Baby Makes Three

Does Anyone Still Read This?

2011-10-25T13:03:00.002-05:00

Just thought I should tell you all that we are all still alive and well! Things have been absolutely crazy the last couple of months, but I am going to try and get a post (or 5) up this week / weekend. I might even be able to come up with a few pictures to put in there!

Garrison John Corwin

2011-08-22T10:52:00.001-05:00

I can't believe Garrison is already 2 weeks old and I am just now getting a post up about his birthday! (I started this post last Monday night and I am just now getting it finished!!).

Here is the abbreviated recap of his birthday for anyone who may be interested (and so I can remember years down the road).

My due date was August 1st and my doctor had told me that she wasn't going to let me go past Wednesday, August 3rd (due to some concerns that he might be a 10 pounder, which thankfully wasn't the case) and that if I felt like I was ready to have the baby after the 1st to call the office. Chris and I mulled over the possibility of getting induced all weekend prior to the 1st and I just couldn't bring myself to go for induction again. My OB was going out of town on Thursday and I was afraid if I waited until my appt on Wednesday afternoon and then end up having to get induced and it taking as long as it did with Rease and then she wouldn't even be there for the delivery.

So....Monday morning I decided that if they would agree to only break my water and not induce me then I would go in on Monday. The nurse initially kind of laughed at me when I called and said "no, pitocin is the only option" so I told her if I changed my mind I would let them know. I still was a little on the fence about it and was a bit of an emotional wreck trying to decide what I wanted to do. I was praying that God would either put me into labor soon or make it very clear as to whether or not I should be induced. About an hour or so later the nurse called back and said that she had talked to my OB and she was all for breaking my water and thought that would be enough to put me into labor. I said okay, let me know when you guys can schedule it with her and the hospital and we will be there. I really thought they would tell me to come in after office hours were over or before the office opened on Tuesday. They called back and told me to be at the hospital in about 1.5 hours.....oops. I was still in my pajamas, Rease was still in her pajamas, it was almost lunch time for Rease, Chris was at work and we had what seemed like no time to figure out a plan and get ready to go.

We got all checked in at the hospital and they broke my water about 3pm. We called the family and told them not to rush right over but that hopefully sooner than later we would have a baby. I was fully expecting to be in labor for a long time like I was with Rease, but thankfully I was pleasantly surprised!!

After they broke my water, I started having pretty regular contractions every 3ish minutes. Chris was joking with me that I was going to have to sit on the exercise ball for the duration of my labor because if I would stand up and walk around the contractions would almost go away. So I sat on the exercise ball and watched the Food Network and read a book for a couple of hours. By around 6ish the contractions were getting pretty uncomfortable so I was hoping I was progressing along without the need for pitocin, but wasn't entirely convinced yet. It turns out I must have been ready to have the baby because the contractions kept up and I didn't end up needing any pitocin. My doctor came to see us around 7 or 7:30 and I was shocked when she checked me and said she didn't feel comfortable going home because we were having a baby sooner than later :) Chris and I walked around the hallway for a while and then around 8:30 we got back in the room and it was time to get ready to have the baby. Once everything was all set up and my OB was ready I pushed for about 15 minutes and Garrison arrived at 8:58pm at 8 pounds, 4 ounces and 20.5 inches long. Thankfully he did everything he was supposed to and I got to hold him as soon as he was delivered (I didn't get to do that with Rease b/c she had shown signs of distress on the monitors and didn't cry right away).

I remember when we were walking in the hallway that at one point my OB kind of looked at me and had this panicked look on her face and she jumped out of her chair and started walking toward us. She only made it a few steps and then sat back down. I thought it was weird but didn't think anything of it. After I delivered, she told me that she jumped up because she was afraid I was going to deliver the baby in the hallway! Ha! Apparently I must have had a very bad look on my face!!

It was also so hot in the delivery room. I had been telling Chris how hot it was as soon as we were checked in there when we got to the hospital. He kind of just looked at me and said he was fine and it was just because I was pregnant. Well about 5-10 minutes into pushing, Chris started walking away from the head of the bed and I was thinking "what is he doing?". Then I heard him tell the nurses that someone else needed to step in because he had to sit down. Apparently the heat had finally gotten to him :) It was so hot in there. I seriously thought I was going to pass out from it being so hot, but I didn't think it was bothering anyone else until Chris about passed out. Thankfully, he felt better in a couple of minutes and back before Garrison arrived.

I was also surprised at how much better labor and delivery went without the epidural (I had one with Rease). It really wasn't all that painful either. Labor wasn't really bad at all, but I am not going to lie and say that pushing didn't hurt. I might have yelled/screamed a little bit, but it was definitely worth doing it without the drugs. If we decide to have more kids, I would definitely do it sans drugs again.

And a little note about Garrison's name. We had it narrowed down to a few names and decided after he was born to choose Garrison. John is both of Chris and I's maternal grandfather's names so we chose that for his middle name. I think Chris' grandpa was excited that we chose it and unfortunately my grandpa has passed, but I think it made my grandma's day :)

Rease has been doing really well since Garrison's arrival. She has had a few more temper tantrums and bedtime has been a bit of a struggle, but over all she had done a really great job. She loves her baby brother and always needs to know where he is and what he is doing. We were at the park last Friday and I had Garrison in the stroller and a little girl (maybe 1 or so) came over and was trying to open up the shade on the stroller and I thought Rease was going to put her on the floor. She ran over and yelled "no, my baby brother" and I grabbed her before she took a swing at her. Apparently she is going to be a little on the protective side :)

Here are a boatload of pictures! Enjoy!

About an hour after Garrison was born, right before I got moved to the recovery room.

Chris looks smitten, I love this picture.

Garrison John Corwin

8lb 4oz

20.5 inches

8:58 pm

Rease stayed with some friends on Monday night and they brought her to the hospital on Tuesday morning to meet Garrison. She was so excited when she saw him and just wanted to poke him and give him kisses.

Another post delivery picture, sorry they are a little out of sequence.

The grandparents arrived at the hospital right as Garrison was born so they got to see him just

after he was here and the nurses were checking him out.

Myles was so cute at the hospital. He loved playing in the curtain.

Riley and Garrison

Grandma, Woody, and Megan came over to visit and Rease loved seeing them all.

I look terrible....

Rease and Hannah were having such a good time at the hospital. They were laughing at one another and

laying under the "blanket" on the bed. The blanket was really the waterproof cover they put on the bed, but it was clean so we let them play with it. I am keeping this picture stashed away because we might need it for blackmail some day :)

Mom, Abrah, and Micah took Riley, Myles and Rease to the local water park the day we brought Garrison home from the hospital. I think everyone had a great time and Rease has been talking about going swimming ever since. Unfortunately, it is closed now :(

Mom and I took Rease and Garrison to the Peoria Zoo and it was Garrison's first official outing (besides the dr's office). Rease needed to burn off some energy and Garrison was about a week and half old so he just hung out in the stroller and looked around and dozed.

Garrison was about 2 1/2 weeks in this picture. I haven't taken very many pictures because he got a little bit of a cold and for some reason his nose is all scabbed over and it looks like he has a bloody nose when you take his picture. It is starting to clear up a little bit, so I will start taking pictures again :)

We went for a drive the other day and Rease was wearing a little one piece romper outfit. I looked

back at her during the drive and she had someone taken her arms out and had the top sitting around her waist. I am not sure how she pulled that off while remaining buckled....

Rease at the park (before going all crazy on the little girl looking at Garrison).

As I said earlier, bed time has been a little rough around here lately. This was after we went to the park last Friday and Rease got up out of her bed and I told her to go back and lay down or I would take away her puppy dogs that she sleeps with. She turned around and went back in her room and I didn't hear from her again. I went in to check on her and she had fallen asleep bent over her bed on her tippy toes. Uncomfortable.....

A belly update - 38 weeks

2011-07-21T21:00:00.000-05:00

Here is the 38 week belly shot with Junior (still no real name choices to speak of).

And because I feel like my belly isn't quite as large as it was with Rease, a picture of my 38 week belly with her.

The Dr. says we could have a baby any day, so I'm off to finish packing my hospital bag!!!

38 weeks

2011-07-19T20:43:00.000-05:00

Just a warning to all my sisters - there isn't a belly picture in this post. Hopefully tomorrow I will get one and put it up here. I had intentions of getting one taken tonight and we were outside playing and Chris turned on the sprinkler to water the grass and Rease decided her and Mommy needed to stand in it. So the decent looking outfit I was wearing has quickly been replaced by gym shorts and a t-shirt that is apparently about 4 sizes too small. I can't keep my t-shirt over my belly and it makes me feel like I've got a serious beer gut going on. But...I'm too lazy to get up and change my shirt and do more laundry, so I'll just keep looking trashy :)

I got my boss to allow me to be able to work from home next week instead of going into the office. Due to this, I am assuming that I will probably go into labor on Sunday and not be able to enjoy an easy week of work at home. But to be completely honest, there isn't a whole lot of work going on when I am at the office these days....so I guess I shouldn't complain.

Rease had a great visit with her Mimi over the weekend and has been asking about her, papa and Riley ever since she left. I keep telling her they will all be over to visit soon and she gets all excited, we'll see if the excitement lasts once she finds out a new baby brother goes along with the visitors :)

Speaking of baby brother, the child still doesn't have a name or anything remotely close. We really need to get on it. I just don't like very many boy names....so who knows, maybe he really will be Junior :) Kidding....

Over the weekend I asked Chris to fill up Rease's little pool (which seemed the perfect size last summer, so it is really little this summer) in the morning so that it could warm up and she could play in it on Saturday afternoon. It was really nice out and only about 75 degrees so we went out to play and she spotted the pool right away and decided she was going to do whatever it took to get in. I tried telling her it was going to be cold, but she didn't care. She jumped in with her dress on and then decided that the dress was weighing her down so she took it off and then decided she also didn't need her underwear. Apparently we have a streaker on our hands. She kept jumping in the pool and landing on her bottom and then saying "Mommy, bottom ouchie, kiss it". I just laughed and said no way.

I have a few things to get cleaned up around the house tonight, as we might have a showing tomorrow so I better go get them done and get to bed! Last night I decided to go to the grocery store at 9 and didn't get home until 10 and then didn't make it to bed for a while after that. So I am due for an early night tonight. We'll see if that actually happens.

Enjoy some pictures!

Rease was loving all of her dress up clothes!!

She put the gloves on and immediately shouted "I'm Minnie Mouse!!"

She was running up and down the hallway and I managed to snap this picture.

I think she looks about 16....

This picture seems so out of proportion. She reminds me of those toy dogs that

were popular a couple of years ago that had the huge heads and small bodies.

**And no, this isn't a product of my mad photoshop skills :)

Trying to sneak into the pool in her clothes....

I love how her pig tails are flying in the air on her way into the pool.

It was hot...so Rease needed some help getting a drink from the

hose. Ignore the huge woman beside her....

36 weeks

2011-07-07T19:46:00.000-05:00

Rease made it all day today at day care without having an accident and only wore a diaper for her nap! We started potty training on Saturday in a pretty nonchalant way and Rease took off. I guess she will do anything for an M&M!! We were brave today and sent her to day care in no diaper with lots of extra clothes. I fully expected a bag of wet clothes when I picked her up, but there wasn't anything! I am hoping this keeps up and it wasn't a one day fluke! It would be awesome to have her pretty much out of diapers by the time Junior arrives.

Speaking of Junior, he is still growing like a weed and making my stomach grow larger and larger by the day (or so it feels to me). I measured 38 weeks at my appt yesterday and have been having quite a few contractions a day for a week or so. Maybe I will get lucky and go into labor on my own this time around and skip the whole induction thing. I would greatly appreciate that. As of today he can't seem to keep his hand (I'm guessing) off of my hip. He pushes on it all the time and that really isn't the best feeling, but I'll survive. I am pretty sure I have a terrific waddle going on and don't move anywhere too fast. Today the escalator was broken 2 floors down from my desk so I had to take the stairs and let's just say I think I am too large and uncoordinated at this point to be doing that much more.

Our church is hosting 10 or so high school students from Basque Country again this summer and last night was the youth cook out. Oh my word...it was hot! I think it was only about 85 degrees, but I felt like I was sitting on the face of the sun. I let Rease play at the park for a little bit and we ate and then Rease and I left while Chris stayed and played some ultimate frisbee. Rease was less than thrilled to leave, but I bribed her with an ice cream cone and it all ended well. I am thankful that McDonald's has ice cream cones so that I didn't have to take her to the ice cream stand and sit outside even more. That girl loves her ice cream cones.

Chris is busy working on getting our dryer put back together tonight and I am so appreciative. I was about to go to Menards and buy stuff to put up a clothes line because the teeny tiny clothes rack isn't cutting it. I guess since he has been working hard since he got home I should get off the couch and do something productive as well.

Maybe this weekend I will get a picture of the 36 (by then almost 37) week belly. I think Chris and I are going out to dinner Saturday for our anniversary (how in the world has it been 5 years....seriously) so maybe I will be in something besides sweats and a tank top (I know...jeans are a real step up) and actually not hate having my picture taken :)

And Micah, it's time to update your blog :)

35 1/2

2011-06-30T08:21:00.000-05:00

It's been a while since I posted a picture of my larger than life belly, so here you go. Chris wasn't home, so I took it in the bathroom mirror and the quality isn't great, but I'm pretty sure you can still get a decent enough view of the belly.

Last night Rease wanted to play outside in the water, so I filled up a couple containers of water and got out the hose. Not very exciting, but she had a lot of fun with it. She insisted on her sunglasses and water shoes so I had to get a picture b/c she's just cute :)

After we played outside, we went in to make dinner. She usually stands on one of the chairs and insists on helping me or as she likes to say "help me, Rease". Well she had her little camping chair in the house and was having a fit because I wouldn't let her stand on that one instead of the kitchen chair. I brought the kitchen chair over and said if you want to help, you have to stand on this one. I went and got something out of the refrigerator and this is what I found when I turned back around.

She put her camping chair on top of the kitchen chair was trying to climb up onto the kitchen chair so that she could then stand on the pink chair. I am not that inventive, so I blame all of that on Chris :)

And I put this picture on facebook over the weekend, but I don't know if Mom and Dad saw it so I thought I would put it on here as well. Rease doesn't care much about whether she eats the ice cream above the cone, she just wants the cone. And she's all about it when she gets one. I think her mouth was open so wide you almost couldn't see her eyes.

New bows

2011-06-25T17:19:00.001-05:00

Rease was very excited about her new hair bows! So excited, that she had to wear them all at once (again) and was cheesing for the camera :)

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Paula, You Let Me Down

2011-06-23T21:10:00.000-05:00

I have been craving Monster Cookies since our trip to South Dakota a few weeks ago. I have never made them before, but love eating them when other people do :) Steve's mom made some when we were out and they were so good. So, in honor of Rease's last day in her current day care room; I thought I would make some for her to take in (and for me to eat).

I got online and googled a recipe, and up popped Paula Deen's. I thought, oh that looks good enough and went for it. I am sure they taste good, but they just don't look that great. Maybe it's me, maybe it the lack of M&M's. The recipe only called for 1/2 C of M&M and chocolate chips, and that just doesn't seem like enough now that I see the cookies sitting on the counter. I guess I should have gone with my gut and just thrown in the extra two bags of M&M's I bought at the check out. I would taste one and see how they taste, but I'm pretty sure I had atleast 3 chocolate chip cookies after dinner (I wouldn't be me if I only made one kind of cookie!) :)

They look pretty bland don't they?

** And in case you were wondering, I made up for the last 6 weeks of being negative 1 pound at the doctor's office yesterday. I gained a whopping 5 pounds in 2 weeks. Perhaps, I should lay off the baking!

And just because she is cute and we love her to bits, here is a video of Rease dancing with her refrigerator magnets the other night. She is wearing her rain boots because she was trying desperately to get us to take her outside in the pouring down rain.

Baby Update

2011-06-22T20:39:00.001-05:00

I have done a terrible job of tracking anything regarding Baby #2 on the blog or elsewhere. I guess that is the way it goes when you have a toddler running around, a house on the market and a full time job. But I guess I will console myself with the "better late than never" philosophy and catch up a little now.

At my 32 week appointment the doctor decided she wanted to check to see how big the little guy was at my 36 week appointment. **The little guy is lovingly referred to as JR or Junior these days, but that is definitely not his name. You will have to take my word on the name part because we still don't have one picked out nor are we close. But, I can assure you it will not be Junior :) Anyway, back to the appointment. She said if he was large enough at 36 weeks and was looking to be 10+ pounds full term we would take a few different steps to see about having him early. Thankfully, he only measured 5 lb 12 oz today (Rease was at 6 lbs at 34 weeks) so she isn't overly concerned. My belly is still measuring 2 weeks ahead of where it should be, so she said we will probably have another sono in a few weeks to see if his weight gain has drastically increased. And if so, then I guess it's time to have a baby!

He was completely uncooperative for any of the pictures today and wouldn't get his hand out of his face. He was also asleep, which I was slightly annoyed about because this child never stops moving. I was looking forward to watching him roll around and such, but he decided to take a nap instead.

There is the front of his face looking at you.

A side shot of his face with his right arm up. He was holding his

toes with his other hand but you can't really see it well in the picture.

So everything is going well and I will try to get a picture up of my enormously large belly tomorrow. I am to the point where I have about 4 shirts that are actually long enough to cover my belly. So everyone at work has a pretty good chance of guessing what shirt I will be wearing each day :) I might have to break down and wear some dresses to work in the next few weeks because it may come down to that or walking around with my belly hanging out :) And no one wants to see that :)

I am about ready to call it a night and go to bed. I know it's only 8:30 but I am dragging. The tiredness has really set in this last week and by about 2pm I am struggling to stay awake at work. I probably would have been in bed earlier tonight, but Rease wouldn't fall asleep. Speaking of Rease, yesterday I asked her what she wanted to name her brother and she said "Minnie, Mater, and Tractor"......... The girl is crazy.

I also need to come up with a new name for the blog. "Baby Makes Three" isn't really fitting anymore. Any good suggestions out there? I thought about "Corwin Chaos", as that seems very fitting these days, but haven't made my mind up for sure :)

The Terrible Twos

2011-06-17T13:59:00.002-05:00

I mentioned this briefly in my last post, but I am sitting at work moving files from a broken pc to another hard drive and needed something to do besides watch it tell me how many more minutes I have to sit here doing nothing!

Ever since we got home from vacation, Rease has acted like a completely different child. **And not really in a good way.** I attributed the first few days to her being a little under the weather (I think we wore her out) and just getting back in her routine. Well its been 2 weeks and we haven't seen any signs of improvement :( I am afraid that we may have been thrown deep into the depths of the terrible twos somewhere between South Dakota and Illinois. Add in the fact that I am practically the size of a small country and don't have a whole lot of patience or energy left, and you can see my predicament. Rease used to love going to day care and would run and play as soon as we dropped her off. Usually instead of a good bye we would get a look like "seriously, aren't you gone yet?". Now she just cries and it is heart breaking. She cried all day on Wednesday for no apparent reason :( Add in her crying fits and temper tantrums about every 5 minutes and I am about to lose my mind!

I love Rease to pieces, but I am not sure I am going to survive this stage!! Any advice?

Besides that, things are going well. Corwins came to visit last week and watched Rease while we went to the Zac Brown Band concert Friday night. Thankfully it was supposed to rain, so the show was moved inside :) That made this pregnant lady very happy! The show was great and I would highly recommend seeing them if you get the chance.

We have had quite a few showings on the house the last couple of weeks. Maybe we will see an offer soon :) For two of the showings this week, we needed to be out of the house during dinner time. The first night we went to Steak and Shake and the whole way there Rease kept saying she wanted to eat chicken. We walked in and as we were waiting to get seated, Rease says very loudly "I want chicken!!!". The hostess laughed and we just shook our heads. Last night we went to get pizza at Firehouse and as soon as we walk in Rease went up to a guy (thankfully he was an employee) and yelled "I WANT TO EAT!". It was hilarious. He started talking right back to her asking if she was hungry and she said "yeah" really loud. I am pretty sure the other people in there thought we were starving her :)

Tomorrow Chris is gone running a race most of the day, so let's hope Rease is in a good mood :)

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Where the Deer and the Antelope Roam

2011-06-14T11:39:00.004-05:00

Last week was all around a rough week. Rease was sick with a 103 fever, which has apparently turned into an ear infection (again...) and none of us were ready to be back from vacation. We are still dealing with a very grouchy two year old, but I am afraid that might be here to stay for a while. Although, I am praying this phase is over quickly and that God will give Chris and I lots of patience. I'm not sure how long I can handle crying over everything every 2 minutes. Let's just hope it ends before she's 16 and starts all over again :)

Anyway, back to vacation. We spent a week in South Dakota and Wyoming over Memorial Day and had an absolutely wonderful time. Back a few months ago when we were planning the trip, I decided there was no way we were going to make a roughly 15 hour drive with a 2 year old. Then I got a hernia and have been restricted to pretty much not lifting anything and I decided there was no way Chris could lug Rease, her car seat, and a couple of carry on's around the airport by himself. So.....we ended up driving. It went so much better than I thought it would. Rease was great the entire car ride. We left after work Thursday and I don't think she made any complaints until about 11pm when she woke up saying her bottom hurt. All that sitting is hard on a little butt :)

We got to the hotel around 1am and all fell fast asleep, ready to get up and start the 2nd leg of the drive the next morning. We were going out to South Dakota to see our friend Steve, who moved out in December. He had been teasing us for a while telling us to enjoy the drive because he was going to be flying over our heads and beat us to his house and we would still have a few hours in the car (he happened to be in Peoria for work when we left for South Dakota). I woke up and checked the time on my phone and read what I thought was another teasing text from Steve. "Don't leave Sioux Falls, I might need a ride". I'm thinking, you are such a brat, just rubbing in it that we have another 6 hours in the car. I sent him a text pretty much saying he was mean for teasing me and then he called and said he wasn't joking...oops! His flight was cancelled out of Peoria and they couldn't get him on another plane until the next day. So being the trooper he is, he jumped in a rental car and started driving so he could be there with us instead of stuck in Peoria. **Needless to say, Steve pretty much has had the worst luck with flights in the last few months.....I won't even begin to explain but the poor guy deserves a break!

So we met Steve in the afternoon and hit the road to Rapid City. That leg of the drive was definitely the beautiful part. Once we crossed the Missouri River and hit the Black Hills, the view was absolutely breath-taking. I just looked out the window and thought about how awesome it was to be able to enjoy the beautiful scenery God had created. It is gorgeous. Rease also loved looking out the window and calling out all of the random cattle that were along the road. We stopped for dinner and to stretch and we were talking to Rease about the buffalo statues they had in the front of the restaurant. She was all excited talking about the buffalo, until we got within about 50 feet of them. Then all we heard was "no buffalo, no buffalo". It was very entertaining. Being the great parents we are, we took her up to them anyway and made her touch them and get her picture with them. :) She was less than thrilled! (Ignore the look on my face, it was a mix of being blinded by the sun and laughing at Rease).

We made a few more stops to stretch and let the pregnant lady go to the bathroom and made it to Rapid in the late evening. It was really pretty coming in to Rapid from the interstate. It was dark so you come in and see all the lights from town, etc., and it was really a neat view. We made it to Steve's house and pretty much all crashed after the long drive.

Saturday was beautiful and we were able to spend the day getting a tour of Rapid and stopping in at Steve's alma mater to check out the CAT lab and all of the Indy Car's. Rease made friends with the Steve's buddy that was showing her around and got to "drive" one of the cars. After that she wanted to sit in all of the cars. She also found welder and the stock pile of weld sticks and was very entertained by that. Apparently she has found her calling in life and is going to take after Woody :)

We also took Rease for her first ever trip to Cabelas and she absolutely loved it (minus the big buffalo statue out front). We had to make another trip later in the week and she decided that she just had to have a hat and a puppy dog. She is still wearing her hat around (mostly backwards) and sleeps with her puppy dog every night. She loves that silly dog. We went to the Visitor's Center and Rease had a great time pushing all of the buttons and watching the 3-D map of the Hills light up.

Chris and Steve went out and did some shooting while Rease and I settled down for an afternoon nap. Chris had a lot of fun doing that and has been talking about guns ever since Thanks, Steve :)

Rease and I got to finish off the afternoon by having a snack at the table and watching all of the deer that came down to Steve's yard to graze. Rease ran around to ever window in the house yelling at the deer and having a great time watching them.

Sunday we were able to go visit Steve's church and then we headed to Wyoming to see where he grew up and meet his family, and the guys had plans for 4-wheeling. We took the scenic way to Upton and stopped by Devil's Tower. Steve's brother and sister-in-law were camping there so we were able to get out and stretch and chat for a while. It was a little cold that day, by cold I mean about 40 degrees, so we were a little chilly, but the company was great. Rease tried to walk their dog and managed to discover, pick up, or fall in every kind of animal poop she could find. It was great :)

Once in Upton, Rease pretty much thought she ruled the place. Steve's mom took to her right away and I'm pretty sure Rease thought she was the queen of the house. Mary kept bringing her toys and letting her watch whatever she wanted on the tv. I think Rease is sad she is home with us again :) Somehow I managed to lose a pound over the week were traveling, but I have no idea how because I think I ate the whole time I was at Steve's parents' house. His mom's monster cookies were awesome! The boys went 4-wheeling Monday and had a great time. After lunch we packed up and headed back for another scenic trip back to Rapid.

We drove through Deadwood, Hill City, and parts of Custer. We drove up through the Needles and I thought for sure I would be sick. I am not a fan of driving on narrow roads that just drop off, but I managed to keep it together and tried not to make any terrified gasping sounds when we met other cars. We stopped at Sylvan Lake to take a walk and see the beauty of it. It was really cold, so we only stayed about 30 minutes, but it was so beautiful.

Rease was spent on the way back to Steve's and was asleep in about 2 minutes. I can't pass up putting up the picture because it is so funny. I think if I would have even tried to pick up her arms or legs they would have just flopped down as dead weight.

Tuesday was supposed to be a little chilly still so we decided to hit some mostly indoor attractions. We went to Reptile Gardens and Rease had a great time. She loved the bird show and was talking about the owl and the chicken and very engrossed in them. We skipped the snake show and went in to check out the alligators, crocodiles, spiders and snakes. Rease didn't mind anything until we got to the really big snakes, then she kept saying "no snake mommy, no snake mommy". We took a trip out to see the gigantic turtles and the prairie dogs. Rease also liked the thought of the turtles until Steve got her close enough to touch it and then she decided she wasn't too keen of them.

After the Reptile Gardens we went to a drive through wildlife park. I am not sure what Rease loved the most - seeing all of the huge animals or being out of her carseat in the pick up. All kidding aside, she loved the animals. She saw the elk and called them "moose" (I just about typed moosen - Brian Regan anyone??). I couldn't believe how huge the antlers were on the elk...crazy! There tons of animals and we all enjoyed watching them. There was one really ticked off bear that kept pacing back and forth and not letting any vehicles through so we got lots of bear watching time :)

We went back to Steve's so Rease could take a nap and the boys went out and drove Steve's old pick up around. I am not sure what all they did, but the pick up came back almost out of gas and muddy; so they must have had fun! We had dinner with Steve's brother and sister-in-law and their little one (who was sleeping while we visited them at Devil's Tower). Rease wasn't quite sure that she felt like sharing Ellie's toys, but she did a decent job. They also let her run the tv and she got lots of Dora in while we were there. She also got to borrow the Little Mermaid, and insisted on watching it while we were at Steve's.

Thursday was our last full day in Rapid so we made the most of it. Steve finally let me do some cooking so I made biscuits and gravy for breakfast and then we headed out for the day. We decided to go to Custer State Park and see the wildlife. On the way we stopped for a picnic and had a good time. The weather was gorgeous and it was a beautiful spot for a picnic.

After that we went into the park. Our first stop was the Coolidge Lookout and the view was spectacular. Rease was asleep so I didn't go up to the observation deck, but Chris and Steve said you could see for miles. I think you could see Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse and Harney Peak (but don't quote me on it).

We traveled farther into the park and wandered around Wildlife Loop. We were able to see lots of antelope, some kind of donkey / mule (a "nay" in Rease's book) and lots of buffalo. Here are some pictures and a video of Rease talking to the buffalo.

We stopped at a local pie shop on the way back from the park and the pie was delicious! I am not a huge fan of pie but it was excellent. I would love to have the recipe for the crust! We ended the evening with dinner at Steve's and enjoyed some time hanging out until we were all too tired to keep our eyes open!

Steve had to work Thursday and we started in on our 2 day trip back to Illinois. We had a great week and are so thankful that Steve let us come and hang out with him for a week. He did a great job playing travel guide during the week and never got annoyed with my 1000 stops to go to the bathroom or let Rease get out and run for a bit. We had a great time enjoying the beauty of the Hills and all they had to offer. Hopefully we can get back sometime in the next couple of years (Hopefully I won't be about 8 months pregnant the next time) :)

Here are a couple other random pictures of Rease from the week and a couple from her birthday and before church a couple weeks ago (she looked so cute and old, I had to get a picture).

Every time Chris had the camera out in the car, Rease would say very loudly "Daddy, cheese" until he would turn around and take her picture :)

Just a little too short

2011-05-23T08:03:00.001-05:00

Rease found this bike in the back of my car a few days ago (it was a birthday present from Grandpa and Grandma for her birthday). We had a couple showings on the house last week, so we put it in the back of my car along with some other things. I decided to put it together for her on Saturday morning and she hasn't stopped asking to ride it since. Thankfully Chris looked it over when he got home and fixed a couple things (I'm no handyman) and now she is scooting around like a champ. I say scooting instead of riding because her legs are about 2 inches too short for the pedals :(

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Rease takes after her daddy

2011-05-22T15:48:00.001-05:00

We took Rease for ice cream on her birthday and I was able snap this picture. I think she learned how to eat ice cream from her daddy!

I have a few more posts in the works and can hopefully get some time to post them soon. We have been busy and I've been lazy.

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Easter

2011-05-05T20:58:00.000-05:00

Here are a few pictures from Easter. Rease's favorite items in her Easter basket were definitely the slinky and Elmo fruit snacks. She still asks for the "elmo snacks" every day and tonight was running around with the slinky behind her yelling "tail".

Her 2nd birthday party is this weekend, and I can't believe it!!! I just finished her dress for the party and I am hoping it looks okay on. It was so easy to make so I am pretty sure I will be making quite a few more for the summer months. It took maybe 2 hours with cutting it out and finishing it. **Speaking of that, I just realized I didn't finish the inside seams and just threw it in the wash. Let's hope they aren't too frayed when they come out so I can actually finish them!!!

The pregnancy is going well. The boy rarely stops moving. He is going to be a fiesty one I think! Rease was more of just kicks and punches and this one likes to roll around like crazy. He also has the hiccups all of the time!

Well, I need to grab some cookies out of the oven and pack our bags for our trip to Indiana this weekend (Chris is running the Indy Mini Saturday and then Rease's party on Sunday)!

Have a great weekend everyone!

We've hit the "my way" stage

2011-04-29T09:43:00.000-05:00

Rease is all about doing things on her own these days, including picking out her outfits, getting dressed and undressed and even attempting to change her own diaper. This morning she was insistent on wearing a skirt so I put some leggings under it and said okay. After about 5 minutes of refusing our help and trying to put her shirt on her legs, she finally let me help her and we got dressed. Then she decided her rain boots were the perfect accessory to her outfit. I was going to send her to school in them and Chris refused so we talked her into crocs. Here she is (ignore the milk all over her shirt, she was a little messy with her cereal this morning). She is growing so fast....

And we are currently on day 5 of having our entire house clean and put together before going to bed / leaving for work. It is such a nice feeling to have zero dishes in the sink, all the laundry done and everything clean!!! (Don't think I'm a slob...I hate cleaning). I guess after you spend 3 entire days cleaning and decluttering your house from top to bottom, the 15 minutes a night to pick up and vacuum just doesn't seem as daunting!

Penny for the Poor?

2011-04-25T20:51:00.000-05:00

Rease is completely engrossed in money. I am pretty sure it started two weekends ago when we had the Wood family Easter celebration at Grandma's. We always do an egg hunt and they are always filled with change and dollar bills (one 5 dollar egg, go Ella!). We weren't sure how Rease would do with the whole "looking for eggs" thing, but she picked it up quickly. The first egg she decided to open up and when she saw change something clicked. She took off after more eggs and shook each one to make sure it had change. If it didn't, it got put back. Needless to say, Riley cleaned up with the singles :) Now she goes around asking for change all of the time! She has a few easter eggs and carries them around asking Chris and I for change. It is very cute. We cashed in her piggy bank today and she had 70 bucks! I guess she gets a lot of spare change!

I was doing such a good job keeping up with the blogging there for a while. And then we decided to get serious about selling our house. For the last 2 weeks, just about every evening after Rease goes to bed we work on getting things done. Thank goodness we had the 3 day weekend last weekend. We had a huge to-do list but got everything done. We managed to sneak in time to watch a movie and a nap/run (I bet you can figure out which one of us did what) :) and that was about it besides church and working our tails off around here. We pretty much packed away everything we don't need in an effort to declutter and make our pretty small house appear larger. I even had to pack away my KitchenAid! (Don't worry, it's just in a cabinet, readily accessible for baking on a whim!). So the hard work has paid off and as of today the house is listed and on the market. We are praying we get a lot of traffic and it sells quickly!!

I had my diabetes screening today and am so glad it is over! I really wish they offered that horrific glucola drink in another flavor besides orange. I hate orange flavored drinks and am doing well just to get it down. I should have just chugged the whole glass, but I stopped about half way through and wasn't sure I was going to make it. The new standard in the Peoria area is a 2 hour initial test instead of the usual 1 hour. Hopefully I pass because I don't think I can stand to sit in those really uncomfortable chairs again for the 3 hour test!

Well, I have a couple things to finish tonight and then I'm going to sit down and enjoy some fresh strawberries and a freshly baked brownie (told you the KitchenAid wasn't far away) :)

Here is a picture of Rease to hold you over until I get the few from Easter loaded up!

All in

2011-04-21T17:45:00.001-05:00

Rease insisted on wearing every bow she has tonight :)

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Hey Woody, Peace Out!

2011-04-06T20:45:00.000-05:00

When Rease and I were in Indiana a couple weekends ago, Woody tried very hard to teach Rease how to say "Peace" and give a peace sign with her hands. She has picked it up pretty well and seems to say it a lot these days. She hasn't gotten the hand gesture down quite yet, she looks more like she has a severe hand cramp than giving a peace sign, but we're working on it.

Last night some friends came over for dinner (homemade pizza and carrot cake, yum!) and Rease was kept telling them "peace". We then got her to add "out" at the end and now she goes around saying "peace out" (or "out peace" as she was doing tonight). Here is a clip for Woody, notice how she bats the camera away at the end like "I did what you wanted, now get that thing out of my face". **Ignore the part at the beginning where I am brushing Rease's teeth, I tried to edit the video but Blogger wouldn't let me upload the edited version.**

A couple of months ago we were given the opportunity to purchase the .jpg's for all of the pictures we had professionally taken of Rease during her first year. We got them in the mail a couple of weeks ago. Can you even believe that my almost 2 year old, about to be too long for her crib, growing out of 3T clothes was this little?!?!?

I hope baby #2 has as much hair as Rease did. And maybe since he's a boy he won't look as silly with the severe comb over that will come when all of his hair falls out :)

And I sure hope he has eyes just like these....

I'm not sure how I got off on that tangent, but I hope you all enjoyed the flashback to Rease's old pictures. Our bathroom is all done! Hooray! Unfortunately, it is so small you really can't get a picture of it. Oh well. I guess you will have to come see it in person if you really want to :)

Here is the 23 (and a couple days) week belly picture. It is getting really big and the baby is moving around like crazy these days. He likes to kick and roll around right on my bladder, it's delightful :) All in all, things are going well and I'm just ready for August to get here and have him outside of my belly :) I am enjoying the pregnancy and don't want to wish it to be done already, but this hernia is making me so sore. By about lunch time every day my belly just hurts. I'm wish it would get better, but probably not until the little guy arrives! Oh well, we'll get by just fine. Chris just might be doing a lot of housework :) **This picture isn't the greatest, apparently my shirt gives no definition to where the top of my belly is so I just look round. Next week I will wear a better shirt!**

And here's one of Rease, just because she is so adorable and so much fun!

It just keeps getting weirder

2011-04-04T08:15:00.000-05:00

First, is 'weirder' a word or is it more weird? I don't know, but I guess it doesn't really matter....

I have always been a very vivid dreamer and have the craziest dreams (ask Chris or any Tuttle and they'll tell you). But...this pregnancy is taking things to a whole new level and it's weird. I will spare you all of the crazy dreams previous to the one I had last night, but I had to share this one. The even stranger thing is that I woke up at 5:15 this morning and decided to sleep for a couple minutes more. In those couple of minutes I had this dream. I thought you usually dreamed in your really deep sleep? Or maybe I have it wrong...I don't know...

Anyway...I had a dream that all the Tuttle's were at our house for dinner. And apparently we needed some kind of meat, so I went and picked up a deer. And I don't mean a nice roast from the meat counter. I went to some some girls house and took the deer that was hanging in her yard. Gross... She threw it in a wheelbarrow and put it in the back of my car. I just remember the whole way home that I kept thinking "I really wish the Bickett's hadn't moved away because I don't know anyone but Steve who will help me clean this thing". Ha ha! So I get it home and bring it in the house and am attempting to butcher it on the counter. Jenny and Dave came over and were just sitting there eating the meat as I was slicing it off the bone. I kept telling it wasn't cooked and they were like "oh, but it's so good".

And I think I was so grossed out I woke up and decided I didn't want to fall back asleep.

Taking after her Momma

2011-03-31T08:03:00.000-05:00

I thought all of the Tuttle's would enjoy this little story about Rease :)

This morning I asked Rease to go throw something away after she got up. We only had the bedroom, bathroom and hall lights on so far that morning. She ran off and said "okay" but then came right back and asked me to come with her. I started walking behind her and she got about half way down the hallway and said "light, light". So I turned on one of the lights in the living room and went to turn on the kitchen light. She kept saying "light, light" so I turned around and she was standing next to the other light in the living room. I turned it on and she ran into the kitchen and threw the trash away.

I guess you will also always be able to know when Rease is home because every light in the house is on :)

Trying to keep up with my goal!

2011-03-30T20:17:00.000-05:00

I decided that if I am going to keep up with my goal of blogging 3 times a week I better get a post up! I can't believe it is already Wednesday night! The last few days have flown by!

Chris was in Michigan last weekend so Rease and I decided to head back to Indiana on Thursday morning and spend some quality time with the family. I brought along the camera, but didn't get it out of the bag once, so no pictures. I had good intentions, but I will blame it on the fact that Rease and I both ended up sick with sinus/ear issues over the weekend and I didn't feel like exerting the necessary energy to get the camera out of the bag and turn it on :)

We had a great visit and Rease got to spend lots of time with everyone. Her newest phrase that she picked up over the weekend was "my turn". Now all I hear when I am doing something is "my turn, my turn". It's cute :)

The whole 'getting over the pacifier' thing took all of about one day. Thank goodness :) Now only two transitions left before the little guy comes in August: moving to a twin bed and potty training. I am not in a hurry to start either.

Chris is painting the bathroom right now and then all we will have to do is hang up the new towel bars, etc., and it will be finished. Hopefully this weekend we can get the last bits of packing up done and get everything ready. Then it will just need a major cleaning and will be ready to put on the market. A house very similar to ours in our neighborhood just got an offer on it in less that a week on the market. We are praying for very similar results :)

Last night I took a canning class at a bakery / cooking school in town and had a fun time. Although I wasn't home to celebrate my birthday with Chris and Rease, I had a great time. The strawberry jam I made was really good. Now, we will just have to see if I actually work up the time and/or energy it requires to actually can some things this summer :)

I better get off of the computer and pick up the living room. Then I plan on catching up on some Biggest Loser and American Idol (if I don't fall asleep on the couch first) :)

Time to Bite the Bullet

2011-03-21T07:59:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we finally decided it was time to break Rease of her pacifier. She only gets it at nap and bed time so I don't think we were doing her any injustice letting her have it this long, but it was time for it to go. It was time for it to go a while ago, I just haven't wanted to deal with it.

Nap went well yesterday for about an hour and then she woke up screaming about not having it and it took a while to get her back to sleep. Last night was okay but it took a long time to get her to sleep. Usually we just read her a book and rock her for a few minutes and then lay her down and tell her to go to sleep. Not last night. Part of the reason was because we were at youth group last night and by the time we got home it was a couple hours past her normal bedtime and she was wound up. Finally she went to sleep and woke up about 3 times during the night but was easily put back to sleep.

Let's hope the next couple of days just keep getting better!

Pictures

2011-03-19T22:45:00.004-05:00

Here are some recent pictures, enjoy!!!

This one is from January, but I thought it was so cute how Rease was so covered up.

You could barely see her eyes while they were riding around on the

snowmobiles, but she was clapping and saying more, more.

It made me not feel too bad for having her out in the cold. Her poor eyes

were tearing up and she was freezing, but had a great time.

This was taken a month or so ago and I swear it has grown another inch atleast.

She has some long hair!

Rease loves to spray herself in the face with a spray bottle. She sprays and just laughs and laughs.

She was literally soaked this day. As you can see in the next picture the water

was running off her face.

Here is the 20 week picture.

Rease got this apron as a Christmas gift and has finally let me put

it on her. She was hamming it up for the camera!

Rease made herself comfortable on Chris the other night.

She sat there watching some Mickey Mouse with her feet crossed and talking

to the tv. It was so cute.

I am definitely not inventive when it comes to hair. Friday was crazy hair day at

day care so Rease just got lots of pony tails! They should have had that day about 15 months

ago and her hair would have been the star!

This is Rease getting ready to be squirted by Chris. She was being so funny!

Rease loves to have you sing "Row, row, row your boat" and then gets her arms

going like crazy. It is so cute. She will say "boat, boat" and then start rowing her arms. She was

watching a song dvd the other night and they were singing that song and she was rowing away. I handed Chris my phone and told him to record her. Not two seconds after he turns it on she quit. Here is the video.

I finally have the energy to bake.....

2011-03-18T11:03:00.002-05:00

.......And these might just be the best cookie sandwich I have had in a long time (besides the chipwich I had at Sycamore last weekend). Here is the link. If you make them, and I highly recommend you do, make a double batch because they are awesome! I would keep them in the fridge so the filling will last longer (or you could freeze some and just pull one out when you want one!).

**Picture is from the recipe posting on Tasty Kitchen. (Mine didn't last long enough to photograph) :)

I also made PW's prune cake last night. I have wanted to try it for a long time. I love spice cake and prunes but didn't think anyone else would eat it. One of the guys I work with just found out he is going to be a first time Grandpa, so I made him the cake as a joke :) I didn't advertise that it was a prune cake until it was all gone though :) It was also yummy!!!

**I have some pictures of Rease to post, I will do it this weekend I promise!!

Snips and snails and puppy dog tails

2011-03-16T13:32:00.000-05:00

That's right, Baby #2 is a boy! We went in to the doctor's appointment today just praying for a healthy baby and I was thinking it was a boy (since the first few months of this pregnancy were way different then they were with Rease). The little guy was a little shy at first, but we finally were able to know for sure he is a boy! Everything looked healthy including the facial features, skull, brain, spine, kidneys, fingers, stomach, etc. I am so amazed at technology and what you can see on an ultrasound!

The little guy is doing well and was measuring about a week ahead (21 weeks instead of 20). I actually thought my due date was August 11th until today and it is August 1st! Oops!! So I thought he was measuring really big :) He is hanging out pretty low in my belly so we will see if he decides to move up at all and crowd all my organs instead of just my bladder :)

I am excited to pick up Rease and tell her, even though she will just say baby and probably not get the whole gender thing. But someday she will, especially since she is one of two girl cousins on both the Corwin and Tuttle sides. Good thing she can keep up with all of her boy cousins in size :)

Here is a picture or two from the ultrasound today, enjoy!

Pink or Blue?

2011-03-15T12:34:00.002-05:00

A month has passed since my last post?!? Time is going by so fast! I might jump on the band wagon with Jenny and try to post a couple of times a week. I realize this is a pretty lofty goal considering it has been a month since my last post, but hopefully I can do it!

Chris and I have done a terrible job of taking any pictures lately, of Rease or otherwise. I think we did get some taken in the last couple of weeks, so I will have to try to get those up in the next post.

We have been very busy lately trying to get our house ready to put on the market. I am pretty sure I make a new to do list every day (not because I get everything done from the day before, but because I lose them about as fast as I create them). My abilities to get anything done as far as cleaning, packing, moving things to the storage unit, etc., has become severely limited in the last few weeks so that is also making things challenging. I got put on a 20 pound weight/lift restriction a few weeks ago and along with that comes no vacuuming, etc. More annoying than not being able to do housework is not being able to pick up Rease or carry her around. She does pretty well except while I am making dinner. I used to hold her while I made dinner every night and she would help, etc. Now I can't do that and she isn't happy about it at all! Sometimes she is happy enough to go play with her kitchen, but not too often.

A couple of weekends ago Corwin's came over and Bob helped Chris redo our bathroom. I tried to get some pictures, but our bathroom is so small there really isn't any good way to get a picture. But take my word for it, it is SO MUCH better! The dry wall guy is coming this weekend to finish the dry wall and match the previous texture and then all we will have left to do is paint and hang up the new fixtures!

Last weekend we went home to visit and Rease had a great time. She insisted on holding Myles whenever I had him and it was so cute. She would practically rip him out of my arms saying "baby, baby". Hopefully she is that fond of her little brother/sister :)

We are trying our best to will Spring into visiting central Illinois and have been spending a little time outside when it is half way decent out. Last night I bundled Rease up and took her out while Chris was grilling burgers (I think it was maybe 38 degrees and windy, it was cold!). She insisted on wearing her new rain boots she got over the weekend and had so much fun playing. She loved the swing. She liked it during the summer, but yesterday she was kicking her legs like crazy and laughing and giggling like I have never heard her. She was having a ball. I was going to try and get it on camera, but I knew she would stop the minute she saw the video camera or camera.

Rease is great at answering questions when you ask her but usually just responds with 'yeah' or 'no'. Last night I got her to say 'yes' and it was the funniest thing I have ever heard. The girl has some trouble with her 's' and it is hilarious. Chris and I just laughed every time she said it. She makes the same hissing sound when she says her name and it is adorable. She loves her animals, babies, books and most recently trains. She is growing like a weed and is going to pass up Riley pretty soon! She outgrew all of her 2T shirts in the last month or so and only has a couple pairs of 2T pants that fit in length. I put her in a 3T outfit today and it fit like a glove. I pray she isn't over 5'10" or so because we will never find clothes that keep her covered up!!!

We haven't really been trying to potty train Rease yet, but have her potty out and let her sit on it when she wants to (we are making a road trip to South Dakota in May so I am thinking we are waiting until after that really long car ride to work on it. I remember road trips with small kids having to go to the bathroom growing up and I'm putting that off as long as possible!). Last night I could tell she was about to dirty her diaper so I asked if she wanted to sit on her potty and go to the bathroom. She said "Yeah" and ran into the bathroom. She sat down and went a little and stood up and looked in the potty and almost went crazy. She was screaming and going "no, no". I was laughing and Chris was worried she was going to make a mess all over the floor so I threw a diaper on her and she continued to freak out about the whole situation. She settled down and proceeded to dirty her diaper :) It might take until May for her to even think about sitting on the potty again, I think we traumatized her!

Tomorrow we go for our monthly OB appointment and get to have our anatomy ultrasound. I'll be 19 weeks and am gigantic :) As of our first appointment, my placenta was in the front (just like with Rease) so I have just now started feeling the baby move around with little kicks and punches. I will have to get a picture up of my belly too. I'm giving Jenny a run for her money :) So, what do you think: boy or girl??

**And yes, I'm at work writing this post :) But my computer is tied up running three jobs, so there isn't much else I can do :)

The latest and greatest at the Corwin house

2011-01-25T20:24:00.000-06:00

So, apparently I am still not doing very well at this posting thing! I think it has only been a couple of weeks instead of a few months this time around though!

I'll share my excuse for not posting in this post, eventhough most of you already know it. Chris and I are expecting baby #2 in August and by the time I get home at night and get around to dinner and putting Rease to bed, I don't have the energy to post. I usually sit down on the couch and fall asleep :) The tiredness hasn't been nearly as bad as it was when I was pregnant with Rease, but the nausea...oh man. Not fun. I won't complain much because I haven't actually gotten sick and I know some people don't have it that easy (..Abrah...) but it stinks. I had that with Rease for about a week or so and it was over. Oh well. We are about 11.5 weeks and everything is going well. Here is a picture of the little one from our doctor's appointment last week. (And yes, it says 12 weeks at the bottom, apparently I am growing another giant. I was 10 weeks at the time of the appt).

Rease has been great lately. She is chatting like crazy, although you can't understand half of what she says still. But it will come in time. She loves to help, and it is great. She gets so upset if we unload the dishwasher without her or try to feed the dog or put things away. She is hilarious. She still talks about Bobby from her day care class all day long every day. It is cute, but crazy at the same time. It never ends! I am pretty sure she has grown about an inch or two since Christmas, all of her 2T pants are about too short. This girl is going to be tall!! She has finally grown to love her Elmo and Mickey Mouse dolls that she got for Christmas. Last night she was throwing Mickey around the living room and then diving on top of him and just laughing. It was hilarious. She looked like a WWE wrestler. Here's a picture.

Here she is sporting her Christmas present from Ryan and Kelsey, a Eugene original. The day before this she wore her Rease shirt to day care and when I picked her up the teachers were all asking who the guy was on the bottom of her shirt. They were having a debate about whether or not it was Jesus. I just laughed and said that it was my brother and to wait and see what she would wear the next day. So I sent her in this shirt and they all just laughed. I said he looked more like the Unibomber when it was blown up. (This is all in good fun Ry, we love ya!).

They also gave Rease her first "up do" at day care that day. She is stuffing blocks down her shirt, she puts everything down her shirt!!!!!!

Rease loves the kitchen that we got her for Christmas, and all of her accessories for it. Here are a couple of pictures of her playing there and a few other ones that we have taken recently.

Chris wanted to attempt making some Lord John's tacos a couple of weeks ago. They were pretty good for the first try. Chris could have eaten them all week long I think.

I wish I had a picture of Myles to put up on the blog, but our camera never made it out of the car during our 12 hour trip home last weekend. Rease and I will be making another trip this weekend while Chris is at Ice Camp with the youth group so I will be sure to get some pictures this weekend.

I am starving and I want to go to bed soon so I better get done here and find a snack. Have a great night everyone!

Finally......a post!

2011-01-05T20:33:00.000-06:00

Hey everyone! I can't believe how long it has been since I have posted. No excuse other than I am just a big slacker. But hopefully I will be doing a better job of posting this year. That's my goal anyway, hopefully I'm successful!

We spend a week at home for Christmas and it was great. We got to spend lots of time with all of our family and even had some time to meet up with friends (which unfortunatly, doesn't happen often when we come home). Every one was home and it was great to spend time with them all.

We celebrated Christmas here before we went back to Indiana and it was good. We continued with the 3 gifts and 1 santa gift that we "stole" from Brittany last Christmas. Rease's main gift was a kitchen and she loves, loves, loves it. She plays with it every day and makes a huge mess, but it's fun.

We are definitely having a trying week getting Rease back on her schedule here and back to "normal". She has been a bear in the evenings after day care and is just all around grumpy. Hopefully a few more days and she will be adjusted back to her old self. Hopefully......

I don't know if I have a whole lot else to post about. Work is going well and we have been busy getting our house back together after being gone for over a week. Maybe by this weekend it will all be put back together. Then it's time to start the bathroom remodel next month....ugh. Any volunteers?

Here are a few pictures from the couple of weeks before Christmas and our trip back home.

Oh..and the blog will probably be public now. I don't think anyone ever read it (because it was a pain and it never looked like it was updated, you know....the 2 or 3 times I did update..lol). Maybe feeling like someone is actually reading the blog will make me post more often :)

Rease's first trip out in the snow, she loved it!

We went to Rease's day care Christmas party and I think she drank that juice box

without taking a breath. It was hilarious.

Rease on our Christmas morning before we headed to Indiana

With much help from Mom, I got Rease's Christmas dress done!

She wasn't thrilled about getting her picture taken though.

I put these next two pictures on here because they are just hilarious.

Megan had me in the Tuttle drawing and she got me a french rolling pin. Apparently

my judgement was a little off that day and I let Rease play with it after I opened it.

Here I am, apparently thinking it wasn't a good idea......

....and here I am right after she clocked herself in the middle of the forehead with it.

Oops....

I didn't include the picture of her crying and sobbing..

Free Shutterfly Cards!!

2010-11-19T10:33:00.000-06:00

Hey everyone! I love free stuff, so I couldn't resist doing this (and I am sitting at work waiting on some things to finish running while I type, so it's a win-win).

Shutterfly is giving away 50 free Christmas cards to bloggers! How exciting! I was already planning on using them for our cards this year, unfortunatly I don't have the time to hand make them this year, so I was so excited to see this offer! I am also pretty sure that our families would rather have Rease's picture plastered all over their Christmas card then something cute I would make :)

I have never ordered from Shutterfly before, but love their products. I am actually working on a photo book of Rease's first year through them right now (got a good deal on Groupon!) and really like how it is turning out. Also in the works soon is a photo book of all our our family members. Since we don't see everyone enough for Rease to always remember their names and face, I thought that would be a very cute idea to help her learn who everyone is! I love their calendars as well, but doubt I get enough time to do them this year.

Here are a few links to the products I mentioned above and some others I think are so cute! I will probably be trying some of these soon!

Christmas Cards Wall Calendars Canvas

If you are a fellow blogger and want to take advantage of this offer go here : http://bit.ly/sfly2010

And...I promise to post some pictures and an update on Rease soon. We have been so busy getting ready to head to Indiana for a week we haven't had much time!

I am a slacker!

2010-11-06T20:49:00.002-05:00

Hey Everyone! I have been such a blog slacker! I haven't posted in three months! That is simply ridiculous!

We have been very busy the last few months and I started a new position August 1 and it is really keeping me busy!! Not that I feel like I need to share an excuse for why I haven't posted, but I seriously can't believe it has been that long! Hopefully I will do a better job over the next couple of months!

Here are a few pictures that we have from the last couple of months. Unfortunately, they are in reverse order. Blogger is sometimes a real nuisance when it comes to uploading pictures! I haven't done a very good job of taking pictures lately. It was so much easier to take pictures when Rease was smaller and wasn't up and about non-stop. I am also planning on getting the camera out more often and getting some good pictures again!

Rease is nearly 18 months old and changing a lot. She is starting to talk a little more now, even though she still doesn't say a whole lot that you can clearly understand. She talks a lot of about Elmo (Momo), Mickey Mouse (Me mou), and likes to try to repeat what you say to her.

We get to go spend the afternoon this Tuesday at the pediatric GI to try and figure out why Rease's alkaline phosphatase (I think??) level is so high. Hopefully we can get an answer to that soon and be done visiting the doctor's office :)

Chris and I were able to spend the day today with some leaders and students from Great Oaks' senior high group. We went up to Matthiessen and Starved Rock State Parks (thanks to Grandma & Grandpa Corwin for watching Rease so we could go!). We were initially supposed to camp for the weekend, but due to a low turnout decided to turn it into a day trip. I can honestly say that I was very thankful for that. I was really not looking forward to sleeping in a tent in the 20's. Burr!!! We had a great day and the hikes were wonderful (I was only feeling moderately sore and out of shape by the end of the day!). It was breath taking to watch the sunrise while driving and watch the sun filter in through the trees and rock formations. God blessed us with some wonderful views today!

Chris and I are so thankful for Great Oaks and the staff and people there. We have built some great friendships there and are so thankful that God is working in and through the people of the church. Some of the first friends we made when we moved to Peoria recently started coming with us to church and I am so thankful for the blessing Great Oaks has been to them over the last month or so. Throughout that whole process I have been so blessed by learning that the timeline that I think is right isn't always what God has planned. And great things happen on His timeline, not mine.

Rease was a cow for Halloween. At first she was not too excited about the costume, but by the end she was loving it! She also loved the jump house and corn hole!

Chris ran his first (and last??) marathon at the end of September. He did a great job and finished just under 4 hours. I apparently play a terrible paparazzi because I didn't hardly take any pictures of him. He ran with one of our good friends, Chris, and they both did a great job. Karen (Chris' wife) and I drove around with the kids trying to find them at different points along the way and cheer nice and loud for them! They did great!

Have a great night everyone! I know this post was a little random and all over the place, but I will try to do a better job!!

Growing Too Fast

2010-08-10T19:27:00.000-05:00

In just a couple of days Rease will be 15 months old, where does the time go? She is doing great and is growing so much lately. She even moves to the Toddler room at day care next week, how is that possible?!?

She has recently (the last 3-4) weeks started shaking her head yes. It started out as more of a whole body nod, but she is doing really well with it now. If you ask her questions, she is really good about shaking her head yes or no and knows what she means. Yesterday I picked her up from day care and they told me she shook her head yes when they asked her if her diaper was dirty (and it really was). Then they asked her later in the day (when it wasn't) and she shook her head no. Maybe we will have a semi-easy road to being potty trained :)

She is babbling more and more all of the time, but still doesn't say a whole lot of words. Yeah, bye bye, hi, and dog. She will say spider and move her fingers around when you sing "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and wave like crazy whenever you sing "She'll Be Coming Around the Mountain". It's cute. If you prompt her she will say cheese, ball, kitty cat and a few other words - but not too often.

She is about to outgrow her 18 month clothes and her size 6 shoes...the girl has some large feet! I am really hoping she will hold off on outgrowing the 18 month clothes at least until fall because we have a lot of 18 month pants. I guess the good thing is she is tiny in the waist so they will probably fit there, they just might be a little short :)

I started my new job last week and it is going well. The group is really super nice and the atmosphere is way more relaxed than being in the production environment. I showed up my first day at 7 (which was practically late at my old job) and the lights weren't even on in the office! My boss was the only other one there! I do like getting there before everyone else does though, because you can really get some work done with no one to bug you!

Chris is still training for his marathon in September. He is getting ready to go run now, actually. I still think he is nuts, especially for running in this super hot weather and humidity.

Not much else is new! I will try to keep up with the posting better! Next time, I might even add some pictures (I haven't been doing a very good job of taking many pictures lately.....).

Finally some time to blog!

2010-06-29T20:12:00.001-05:00

**I forgot to mention that Rease's one year pictures are up! Nellie did a wonderful job! You can view the slideshow at:
http://www.nellie-photography.com/flaunt/?/page/7652/corwin/

I finally have a few minutes to post, sorry it has taken so long!

We have been so busy lately and it seems like one day just runs into another! I don't even really know where to start with this post. I kind of like the easy way I did the last one (mostly because I don't have to think of making sense with my paragraphs) so here are some major bullet points of what we have been up to lately. **Sorry if you like post that involve cohesive paragraphs. Maybe if I post more than twice a month you will be able to see those!

Rease is crazy. She is so much fun but I tell ya, by the time she goes to bed at 7 I am worn out!
She insists on being outside as soon as we get home in the afternoon. If I even mention the word "outside" she immediatley goes to the back door and bangs on it. If we aren't there in a minute or so she throws herself on the floor and wails. It really is a nice thing to see :) She also cries and kicks and throws her head back whenever we come in for dinner. I think she would be content to live outside right now.
Rease is up to 12 teeth and thankfully the first 4 molars haven't been terrible. She wakes up about once a night and usually goes back to sleep pretty easily. Let's pray that keeps going, or that she doesn't wake up at all :)
Rease moves to the "Tods" class at daycare in August, sigh.
Rease had her last bottle of breastmilk about two weeks ago, guess she isn't a baby anymore :(
Rease is down to one "bottle" a day, right before bed. Hopefully by the time we go home for the 4th we will be down to 0. Then comes the pacifier :)
Rease is babbling all of the time. She has been repeating the same 3 or so "words" for days now but I can't really tell what they are. I am pretty sure 1 is dog, but no idea on the others.
Rease's belly seriously looks like she is a 9 month pregnant baby. The girl loves her food.
Rease just woke up, dang...I'll be back.
I picked Rease up from daycare yesterday and she pretty much gave me the dirtiest look. I have no idea where she gets that from! It was hilarious though. She just sat there and glared at me!
Chris is still training for the marathon in September and I still think he is crazy!
I have accepted a new job effective Aug 1 (still with Cat in Peoria). Due to this I have been crazy busy at work and it stinks. I liked it when I had time to catch up on my blogs at work :) Just kidding, kind of :)
The 10 students our church is hosting for a month just arrived on Friday from Basque country. Last night we had a picnic and ultimate frisbee and soccer. Tonight Chris is there playing "crazy games" with them. The only game I knew of was eating chili out of diapers. Gross. The Basque kids are really going to think we are crazy now!
We will be home from Thursday night to Tuesday afternoon and are so excited for the long weekend with family!
I am really enjoying Sanctus Real lately, just in case you wanted to know :)

Enjoy some pictures!

How did Rease get too big for one piece pajamas?

I love these 3 pictures because she looks like she is dancing :)

The glare I got yesterday, was worse than this one!

She was singing while carrying her CD's around, too cute :)

Can you guess who this outfit was from?

Rease was really enjoying playing in the rain!

Just a little wet!

Chris running in Peoria Heights during the Steamboat a couple

of weeks ago. He ran a 1:08:?? for 9 miles.

Steamboat is considered the hardest 15K in Illinois, good

job Chris!

Rease was hamming it up while we were waiting on Chris after the race.

Rease and I were standing right behind these firefighters (who ran the 4 mi in their full gear - crazy!)

and an old man came up to tell them all thank you, I thought it was so

nice so I had to snap a pic!

We had blueberry pancakes for dinner last week and Rease was

absolutely covered! She soaked in the bath for a long time!

We tried out the kiddie pool from Micah and Cal on Sunday.

Rease wasn't having any part of it at first, but she warmed up to it

eventually.

I think we might have to upgrade to the next size up if she gets

any longer before summer is over!

This was right before she dunked her head under the water....

and right after :)

Almost every night Rease grabs her Boppy off of the couch

and lays on it. That is when it is bed time!

Mom bought this shirt when we were in LA visiting Ryan back in Nov. 2008.

I was about 3 months pregnant with Rease, now it fits!

The back says "You are what you eat, so eat Good Stuff"

**Good Stuff is a cafe right down the street from Ry's apt.**

Today

2010-06-08T19:28:00.001-05:00

We went to Luthy Botanical Gardens for Rease's 1 year pictures today! I was worried about the weather because they were calling for bad thunderstorms all day. But, it only rained a little until about 1 and then was so nice out! Perfectly overcast so there shouldn't be any squinty eyes! Rease had a great time and was in a great mood! She even ate her cupcake this time around! Yeah! The pictures should be up in 1 to 2 weeks, so I'll let you know!

Shedd, Moglie, High School

2010-05-27T19:57:00.000-05:00

Sorry that it has been 2 weeks and I am just now finding the time to update Rease's 1st birthday post! Things have been very, very hectic around here the last two weeks.

This post is going to be a collection of bullet points. I don't feel like putting my thoughts together enough to make them flow in cohesive paragraphs :)

Rease was 22 pounds 8 ounces (71st percentile), 30.5 inches (86th percentile) at her 1 year check up.
Her head circumference is in the 96th percentile. I am using this to say she is just making room for a really, really big brain :)
Rease has 10 teeth and is working on getting about 4-6 more. Her gums are so puffy and she is chewing on everything and drooling like crazy!
Rease took her first steps before she was even 11 months old, but didn't decide to take any more consistently until last weekend. I put her in a dress on Saturday and she was so annoyed about it being in the way of her crawling around she just stood up and started walking. She was a little wobbly at first, but by the end of the weekend she was doing pretty well.
Due to the dress incident listed above, Rease has also learned how to crawl around like Moglie from the Jungle Book. I am working on getting a video because it is hilarious.
She says Mama and Dad all the time but is starting to babble non-stop. I am pretty sure her next word will be car because whenever we are out she points at each car and says "da".
Chris decided this week to run the Quad Cities Marathon in September (I think that's the date).
On June 1st I am starting B90X (note - not P90X....I am pretty sure I would fail miserably at that one). It is the name of our summer challenge at church, to read through the entire Bible in 90 days. I have never read through the whole Bible (year, etc.) but am super excited about this. Making my Bible time a priority since having Rease and going back to work has been tough, so I am looking forward to making it a habit throughout this 90 days. Want to join in? Just let me know. I can send you the info on the schedule, etc.
Due to the 2 bullets directly above, Chris and I will be up about 4:45 every morning starting June 1st. That is the part I am not so excited about. He'll be running and I'll be reading before we have to get ready for work.
We gave Molly away last Saturday. Even as onery as she was, I miss her. She was a good dog (most of the time) and was wonderful with Rease. We didn't have the time to give the dogs they attention they need and desire so we decided to try and find a home for Molly. (Colby has some health issues so we didn't feel we could fairly give him away). I got three calls within 3 days and hopefully she is working out in her new home. If not, we will try again :)
Last Friday we took Rease to Shedd Aquarium. It was really fun and she really had a good time. She pointed and yelled/squeeled at all of the fish. She really enjoyed putting her hands in the water and splashing and touching all of the fake shells and anemonies in the play area. She got pretty tired towards the end and I put her in the Mai Tai carrier I got for Mother's Day and she was out in minutes.
We are heading back home for the weekend tomorrow and are very excited! It will be a nice long weekend to relax and spend time with family.
I have some exciting work news to share, but can't quite yet. Soon though :)
Youth group is done for the summer, but our church is sponsoring 10 Basque studens in June/July. I am really excited about being a part of that.

Well, that's all I've got! I hope everyone is doing well! Here are a few pictures!

So serious...

So happy...

I think Rease thought we were in a hurry to eat lunch :)

She wasn't thrilled about sitting on the otter and getting her picture taken.

Any time she falls down outside, she makes that same exact face and hand motion

as soon as they hit the grass.

I am pretty sure that whale thought he was going to eat Rease for lunch...

The picture quality is poor, but she was out!

Chris says this looks like I am modeling the carrier, but I had no idea he took the picture.

Rease was determined to get to those ducks!

For our last night of youth group, the leaders had to show a senior picture of ourselves. Chris and I didn't have much of a selection (they must be in Walton/Galveston) but these were the ones we found.

Enjoy the throwback!

Happy 1st Birthday, Sweet Rease!

2010-05-13T20:17:00.000-05:00

**Disclosure: I wanted to get this post up yesterday, but found out late yesterday morning I had a job interview today. So...I am not getting it posted until today! Sorry it's a day late, Rease!

I have to run to a softball game right now, but will add captions to the photos later tonight or tomorrow.

The short version is we had a wonderful weekend with family and a great baby dedication and party on Sunday after church! Enjoy the pictures and come back for comments later!

What kind of town do I live in?

2010-05-06T20:51:00.000-05:00

We are very busy around here, gearing up for Rease's 1st birthday party on Sunday! I can't believe that in less than a week she will be a year old!! But, I'm not thinking about that until next week!

Just a couple of funny stories for you (atleast I thought they were funny / odd, maybe you won't :) )

I was driving home from picking up Rease after work on Monday and saw this girl, probably around 9 or so, riding her bike along a frontage road next to the main road by our house. It was kind of windy that day and I noticed that she seemed to be having some issues keeping her bike steady. I thought to myself "I am glad she isn't on the main road because she is going to get hit the way she is wobbling all over the place". It turns out she was riding her bike in a skirt. Apparently no one clued her in on one of the things you shouldn't do while wearing a skirt, ride your bike. She was desperatly trying to keep her bike steady while corral her skirt that was fluttering away in the breeze in the front and back. It was quite an attempt on her part, but unfortunately she was failing terribly.

**Side note, I was raised in the middle of the country where no one would have seen or cared if you rode your bike around in a skirt. Afterall, we had neighbors that paraded around their yard in their less than appropriate nightgowns and acted like it was no big deal (Mrs. S - if you're reading this is, it was a big deal. It was gross!). So anyway, I guess my point is if you are going to ride your bike around town in a skirt, put some shorts under it or something!

Right after I passed the girl on the bike I saw some guy running along the road in some normal running shorts and then a cut off tshirt. Not just cut off at the sleeve, but cut off mid-rib. Really, is that the norm these days? I am pretty sure his baseball hat was covering up the business part of his mullet, because all I could see what his ponytail in the back. Want to see for yourself? I knew you did, so I snapped a picture with my phone :) Sorry for the crappy quality :)

So after that encounter I began to wonder about where we were living and what kind of neighborhood we were choosing to raise Rease in. Okay maybe not, but there are some really strange people around here. I am positive we will be moving before Rease is old enough to have any memories of this neighborhood!

Tuesday I got home from work and the garage door wouldn't go up. Then I saw a electric company truck drive by and thought "darn, I knew I should have put my house key back on my key chain when I found it this weekend". Yup, the power was out. Bummer. So I called Chris to see if he had a key. Nope. Nada. Zilch. So I decided to see if I could get in the window of the spare bedroom. I didn't think it was locked because it is a pain to get to because it is behind our computer desk and it is just a pain. So I set Rease in the grass and was able to get it open. Then I thought...."I can't just leave her sitting in the grass while I window surf into the extra bedroom and run around to the other side of the house to open the back door"...

Thankfully the neighbor pulled in and she watched her for me while I body surfed through the window and onto the computer desk. It was a sight, let me tell you. (I am pretty sure my neighbor will never look at me the same again). :) Anyway I got in and unlocked the door and locked the window behind me. So don't worry about that. I also put the key on my keychain.

We decided to go out for dinner because the power wasn't expected to be on until 7ish. After that we ran to Dress Barn to try and find a new dress for Rease's child dedication on Sunday. I was in the dressing room and we were the only ones in the store so Rease was sitting out by the big mirror with Chris playing. Then she realized she could fit under the door into the room I was in so she kept crawling in and out of the dressing room. She would crawl in and look at me, babble something and then turn around and go out and babble to Chris and come back in. She had so much fun I am thinking I might need to install some saloon door in the entryway into the kitchen!

Well, I need to go get some laundry done and finish loading the dishwasher! The next post will be after Rease's party and I am sure it will be picture filled!

Good night!

Milk Duds, blown tires, Easter and a new baby!

2010-04-26T20:55:00.000-05:00

I am finally finding sometime to post! Rease is in bed, the dishwasher is loaded and Chris is in the shower. So here at the computer I sit!

I promised some descriptions of what we have been up to lately in my last post so here goes. Sorry it has taken me 3 1/2 weeks to get them to you!

Starting in February we became completely busy! The last weekend we went back to Walton for a visit and a baby shower for Ryan & Sarah Pyke (Chris' cousin). They welcomed Mason Louis Pyke to their family a few weeks later. (I still don't hav a picture, even though we have met...sorry). The first weekend of March we went up to Chesterton for Chuck and Kristen's baby shower and it was eventful to say the least! We met at their house on Saturday and spent the day with them and Chris & Stephanie DiLullo. We were all excited to meet up with Kramer's at the shower and spend the day catching up and celebrating the near arrival of Baby Mamich. As it goes, DiLullo's bought Rease the most adorable outfits for her birthday. The one outfit was on it's way to being too small by the time it would be warm enough to wear it so Steph and I decided Saturday morning would be an ideal time to put Rease in Chris' car and drive to the Carter's store in Michigan City and exchange it. Well, we got there fine and right on time. I even had a few extra minutes to stock up on some good clearance deals for Rease. We hopped in the car and headed toward the interstate to meet up with the guys and head to the shower. Well, we made a wrong turn..yes, even with the GPS, and finally got on the interstate. About a minute into our 10 mile drive the car made this weird pulling sensation and I managed to keep us from swerving into the semi that I was trying to get around. Then it started shaking like crazy. I seriously thought the wheels were about to fall off. I called Chris, attention - don't use your cell phone while you feel like your wheels are going to fall off, and pulled off on first exit. As soon as we got on the exit and off the interstate the car went nuts. I don't know if cars really go nuts, but this one did. It was shaking and stammering like no other. It was then I really thought we might have just lost a wheel. I got the car stopped about half on the road and half in some really muddy, sandy grass and jumped out. The tire was gone, completely shredded off of the rim. Amazingly the rim wasn't damaged (if you know my husband you know this is a good thing, haha) and then looked at my sleeping baby in the back seat and lost it. I started thanking God right then that we were able to get off of the interstate when we did and nothing bad happended to us. Remember I had already talked to Chris and told him where we were and that we were exiting. So I got back in the car, pretty hysterical, and called him back. I attempted to tell him through sobs that the tire was gone and I am pretty sure he thought we had been hit while on the side of the road or something. I think I ended up hanging up on him or something of the like because we were both upset for reasons unknown to the other and such. Anyway, we got over that but it is kind of funny looking back. Chris and Chris showed up, we swapped cars, did I forget to mention that the shower was starting in about 20 minutes, we had the cake and were an hour away..oops! They proceeded to start changing the tire and putting on the donut when some random "good samaratin" tried to help them. He pushed them out of the way and proceeded to jack up the car using the body and not the frame, real nice dude. Thankfully DiLullo is pretty intimidating and told the guy to get lost. So...about 22 tire stores and 4 hours later the guys showed up at the reception, starving and tired and it was over. No food, no cake, just pack up and go home. Sorry Jason, they really did want to hang out with you!

The next weekend Corwin's came to visit and compared to the weekend before it was pretty uneventful. I think we just relaxed and visited.

The last weekend of March Chris went to Man Camp in Michigan and Mom, Dad, Abrah, Riley and Kelsey came over to visit. Saturday we went downtown Washington to a couple of stores and to Holland's Mercantile to get some candy. Yum! Mom bought some fancy truffles and the rest of us got pretty much the same thing we could have gotten at Kroger for a tenth of the price. You can't beat the feeling of being in the candy store though. :) So I made dinner that night and we were all sitting around the table after dinner chatting about random things. I think the topic moved to Ryan catching himself on fire in the late 90's and we all couldn't believe Kelsey had never heard the story. Along the way sometime, I gave Rease a paper bag with some chocolate covered milk duds in it from the candy shop. I thought that shaking it around would keep her attention while we all chatted aimlessly. Well I realized later that she was being really quiet as she sat on my lap. I looked down and saw the bag with a huge whole chewed in it and chocolate covering Rease's mouth!!! I freaked out thinking "how in the world can she chew up that caramel, she must be choking". But the finger sweep didn't produce much, maybe a pea size amount of caramel. I gaver her some water and she drank it fine so then we all laughed for a long time! I am pretty sure she ate at least 2 of them! I didn't know I had a chocolate lover on my hands!! Now is the time I should tell you all that my first solid food was a snickers bar that I found in Abrah's backpack and proceeded to eat through the wrapper. I guess Rease gets it honestly :)

The next weekend was Easter and there are a ton of pictures from our weekend home below. Rease got her first boo boo when I kind of let her topple over right into a bed frame at mom and dad's. Oops.. Don't worry, her ear is all healed up now and the pink and purple bruise matched her Easter dress :)

The weekend after that we ran up to meet baby Macy Mamich and she is a doll. She slept the whole time. I decided to try and strip her down to her diaper to wake her up and she didn't want any part of it. She woke up enough to kind of give me a 'quit messing with me' look and went right back to sleep. I am pretty sure that every parent must say this, but I hardly remember Rease being so small!

On the 10th Rease took her first steps. Just shy of 11 months old. She took a total of about 4 and really has shown no interest to take any more! Occassionally she will take one or two but then it is right down to her hands and knees and she is off. She hasn't figured out that if she will just give it some work she will be faster walking than crawling. But it's good, I'll keep her small as long as I can!

Chris was gone on a fishing trip with his dad to Kentucky last weekend and is getting ready to head to Wisconsin this weekend to run a 1/2 marathon with one of our pastors from church. Wish him luck! I will be here getting ready for Rease's 1st birthday party in a couple of weeks! I cannot believe she is almost 1!!!

Here are the pictures! Enjoy!

We took Rease to the park on a really nice day in late March. These are some of the pictures.

She refused to put her foot down for about a minute.

I think she was trying to figure out how she could do it without touching

the grass!

Aren't her shades adorable! They came from the DiLullo's during our

adventurous trip to the Carter's store!!!

This is one of my favorite pictures!

Rease loves thread. She will sit there all day long and try to stack them up and clap them

together.

Here starts the Easter pictures.

Riley and Abrah were dying Easter eggs at Mom and Dad's.

I am pretty sure the counter is still stained in shades of rainbow!

Riley was pretty proud of his creations...

Rease's first Easter Egg Hunt. We were just spectators, but Westen had fun.

Go Boilers!

She wasn't loving the bunny ears, bummer.

Tuttle cousins at Great Grandma Joanne's after church.

Isn't her headband adorable? I got it from Mandy Hall.

She made them to raise money for the Vasa Previa foundation and she did a great job.

We thought of them all day long as Rease wore it.

None of our family pictures turned out well, but this is as good as it gets...

Woody and Riley in action.

Mom made her Easter dress and it is so adorable!

Rease was in on the hunt, but as soon as she found one and realized

that it made sound when she shook it she parked and was done :)

Baby Macy!!!

The rest of these were taken just yesterday. She was

really enjoying my hat!

New Pictures!

2010-03-31T20:33:00.002-05:00

**THE NEXT POST WILL BE PRIVATE, SO IF YOU HAVEN'T LET ME KNOW YOU

WOULD LIKE TO FOLLOW THE BLOG, PLEASE DO SO!!!**

I have lots of things to talk about... like family visit, lots of recipes, sleep training and so on...

BUT..tomorrow we leave to go home for Easter and it is 8:30. We haven't eaten dinner

or started packing, so you just get pictures for now!

I will try to add some captions tomorrow if I get time at work. For now I guess

you will just have to try and guess! The first pics are from February and go

until about last week. I got some cute ones in the car tonight, but haven't

uploaded them yet...enjoy!

This one is from January! I haven't posted in a long time!

This was one of the outfits Woody & Megan got Rease

for Christmas. She wore it for the Super Bowl and was so cute!

For about 2 weeks before Rease got her tubes put in, this is where she slept.

I don't think any of us slept well during those 2 weeks....

I think I post a picture of Rease asleep in our bed about every other month.

It is still her favorite place to sleep.

Yes, that would be powdered sugar on her face! I didn't let her eat the

donut..just lick it! She loved it!

Rease loves the dogs!! Thankfully they like her too and don't get

aggitated when she pokes, pulls, and rolls all over them!

Who needs expensive toys when you have a box?!

Riley sent Rease a Valentine and she got to try the sucker. After she took her first

lick, she didn't want to give it up!

Isn't Sarah glowing? This was her baby shower...little Mason was born just a couple

of weeks later! I would post a picture of him, but we haven't met yet so this will have to do...

Rease was all about trying to eat the wrapping paper from my birthday present!!

The girl loves to eat... Cottage cheese just happens to be one of her favorites!

This was the night we got home from Kristen & Baby Mamich's shower in Chicago.

The same day Rease and I blew a tire on Chris' car on 294! Not fun!

We are still waiting on Baby Mamich to make her big debut!!! :)

Our first walk of the year! It was still kind of chilly but we had to get out and enjoy the weather!

Rease loved it. She talked and kicked her legs around the whole time!

Rease loves these blocks! And I love those eyes!

I also love these toes!!! They are so chubby and always curled up!

The girl has got some looks. I think it is a Tuttle thing!

I think she was trying to tell me I stink... :)

Rease was having a ball in her crib the other day. Chris did such a good job on it, she loves it!

This is from our nerds & pj bowling night for youth group.

I swear this kid could be a Bruner....

Rease's first pigtails!

Rease did not like the grass...at all

I made Jody's banana bread recipe and Rease devoured it!

I will never be tired off....

2010-03-24T19:25:00.000-05:00

These blue eyes

Let me know

2010-03-08T19:30:00.000-06:00

Hello out there! I haven't posted in a couple weeks, but we are here and doing well. I have been taking some good pictures of Rease lately and promise I will post them soon. Possibly even tomorrow.

For now, I just wanted to stop in and say that I have decided to make the blog private. Rease's safety is more important to me than the number of people that read the blog (not that I think too many people read it). I really don't have the time to watermark my photos or make nicknames up for our family or monitor where visitors to the site are viewing from. Let's face it people, I am doing well to actually get a post up with some pictures more than twice a month! I know that making the blog private may be annoying to some of you that read it, having to sign in to view it and all, but sorry.... So, if you read the blog and would like to continue being able to read it, please email me at corwin.chelsea@gmail.com and let me know so that I can add you to the list of viewers.

So, that's it....let me know

On the Mend

2010-02-16T19:21:00.002-06:00

Rease went through the procedure wonderfully! She was only gone from us for the surgery and recovery for about 20 minutes total. She barely cried and did great. Her ears were really infected so we won't see an immediate change but hopefully over the next week or so she will be over the infection and all healed up from the procedure. Thank you for all of the prayers!

Tubes.....Finally!

2010-02-15T09:20:00.003-06:00

Tomorrow Rease will be getting her tubes put in! I am apprehensive (over the anesthesia) and so ready at the same time. I don't even remember what it is like to have a baby without ear infections! Although, I am pretty lucky because she is a trooper and does pretty well with them. I just can't wait to see the change it will make when she finally feels better for good!

Anyway, we go in at 7am (not sure the exact surgery time) and would appreciate your prayers. Thanks!

Calloused Knees

2010-02-09T19:31:00.006-06:00

I feel like it is time to play catch up! I haven't blogged in weeks and I haven't posted pictures in months. I feel like I have completly neglected blogging! I never even got around to putting an 8 month picture of Rease on the sidebar (until tonight) and she is almost 9 months old!

The lack of pictures is excusable (we ran out of space on our hard drive so I couldn't download new pictures), but I am afraid I have no excuse for the lack of posting. Although I think I am still posting more than Ryan (who was making all of us look pretty mediocre in our posting habits there for a while).

Rease has been changing by leaps and bounds lately. All 4 of her top teeth have now made their big debut, so the running total is up to 8! Man, that seems like a lot! She is clapping whenever we sing patty cake and has even tried to say patty cake ("atty ake") a few times. She still says "dada" and "mama" all the time and is starting to babble more and more. Her babbling tends to die down when her ears are bothering her so I can't wait to hear her talk all the time once they are fixed next week! Her knees are calloused from crawling all over as fast as she can whenever she can. And, I caught her waiving a couple times tonight. She hasn't really done it on que yet, but she was waving so I'll take it.

Speaking of calloused knees, today I read a story that I thought was pretty profound. I don't remember it exactly, so here is my paraphrase. It was on a blog that I check occassionaly, but can't find it now. Anyway.....a woman was diagnosed with MS and her neurologist wasn't a Christian. She was able to share her faith with him through their visits and the doctor became a Christian. Shortly after he went on a medical mission trip overseas and met a boy who suffered from severe epilepsy. The doctor noticed that his knees were very, very calloused and asked if it was from the epilepsy. He said "no" and that "it is from continually bowing down in prayer asking God to heal me". The doctor was stunned at the faith of this small boy and grew even deeper in his faith.

So, how about you? How are your knees? I know mine aren't as calloused and rough as they should be most days. I get busy in the day to day activities or working, mothering, being a wife, and trying to maintain a somewhat orderly house and don't spend the time in prayer that I should. So as I challenge myself and you to be more prayerful, I would liek to ask you to pray specifically for my mom.

Most of you know that my mom was diagnosed with cancer back in 2004. The day in October of 2004 that I found out will always be in my memory. I remember all the events of the day. And hoped that Mom would get better and I wouldn't have to hear the words "the cancer is growing again". But in around October of 2009 that was what we heard. Mom went in for her routine testing and her tumor markers were up. All of her organ scans are clean, but she does have a "hot spot" on one of her previous cancer spots. As I understood it, the bone scans are hard to decifer as far as cancer, new bone growth, etc. The first medicine they tried didn't do a sufficient job so Mom is on her 2nd drug to try to stop "feeding" the cancer. So please pray for her. She is doing well but I know that she covets your prayers more than anything.

I think I speak for mom and the rest of the clan when I say thanks in advance for surrounding her in prayer. And if there is anything that Chris and I can be praying for you or your families about let us know in the comments!

On a completely different note, I have been asked for some pictures so here you go! We just ordered another hard drive this week so hopefully I can get the rest of the new pictures downloaded off of the camera this weekend and put some more up!

Ivens and his 2 brothers and mom came back for a Christmas visit!

The grandkids..

apparently Taylor thought something was really funny

Mom made those santa hats....adorable!

I think these two might get into some trouble in years to come!

Why does Rease look nearly as long as Riley!

Seriously, what am I going to do with her hair!

But I love the face!

Rease finally got a handmade (hand ironed??) shirt from Uncly Ry!

Testing out the new carseat!

stylin in Megan's outfit!

And They're Off

2010-01-29T10:25:00.002-06:00

I am getting ready to head up to Michigan with the Youth Group for Ice Camp. Sounds cold, doesn't it! Chris and Rease will be spending their first weekend without me! I think it will be much harder on me than them! Megan and Woody are making their way over this afternoon to visit while I am gone as well. Say a prayer for the group's safety as we travel and spend our days outside (burr...) and also for Rease and Chris. She has slept terribly the last few nights and only wants me to hold her or put her back to sleep. Hopefully if she knows I am not there it will be a little easier on them all!

Someday...

2010-01-24T19:49:00.004-06:00

**Updated**
I called the ENT and he said that things aren't sounding so good!! We are getting her ears checked again after this round of antibiotics and if things aren't all cleared up at that point we will be scheduling tubes it looks like. So, we can make it through one more week - even if it means all of us get only 4 hours of sleep a night and Rease is sleeping in her too small infant seat with her poor little legs propped up on a blanket (because they dangle over the end). Hopefully we will be on the mend soon!

Someday I will find time to post again! Rease has been sick for a week and it stinks. We saw the ENT Monday and he said her ears looked fine and to finish the antibiotics we were given the week before for another ear infection. Monday night she got a terrible cough that would cause her to gag, choke, puke and all that fun stuff. It was still going on Thursday so I took her in to the doc and she said her ears were a mess and very concerning! Wonderful, considering the we had just been to the ENT and were already on an antibiotic for her ears. Needless to say no one has gotten much sleep around here and the only way we do is if we strap Rease in her infant carseat and either put her on the floor in our room or in our bed so that she can have mama 's arm across her(she likes to say that non-stop now :) ). Anyway, the cough seems to be clearing up and her ears still seem to be really bothering her. I plan to call the ENT tomorrow and see if we can't get seen again. I don't know how much more I can take of this. Her follow up appt is set for April and that seems like a long ways away!

I gotta run - the house is a mess and we haven't had dinner yet!

Forgot....

2010-01-13T08:23:00.002-06:00

I forgot to say that Rease turned 8 months old yesterday! Soon her 1st birthday will be here! I can't believe how fast time is going!

We also moved her into her new carseat over the weekend. I love them! I even bought a fun print, which I told myself I would never do, but did it anyway! When you see it you will totally think Chelsea!

I also have a really good recipe to post. I love to cook and bake, but usually never make anything new (unless I'm baking and then I will try anything). So this year I am going to try to make atleast 1 new recipe every week. This shouldn't be hard because I got about 5 cookbooks for Christmas :) This week I am actually making 3 new recipes. As I make the new recipes, I will be sure to blog about them. I promise the first one is good. :)

Bare

2010-01-12T19:26:00.003-06:00

Chris is at church playing basketball, Rease is in bed, the dogs are fed, and dinner leftovers are in the fridge so I have some time to blog!

I feel like I haven't posted in months, it has probably only been about a month, but who's counting!

Things have been busy around here. We went back home for Christmas and were there from the 23rd - the 31st. It was a wonderful time full of family, food, fellowship, and the flu...

Rease pushed herself up into a sitting position for the 1st time on the evening of the 23rd. We had just gotten to Mom and Dad's and Mom said "so can Rease sit herself up yet?". I said no, we are working on it though. Then we turned around and Rease was on her belly and then sitting up. It was the funniest thing. I guess I should just talk about her doing things more often. :)

Christmas Eve we spent time with Barb's side of the family and then were back at Mom and Dad's for the evening. Every one was home by that point and it was a lot of fun to catch up and enjoy everyone's company.

Christmas morning we got up early and went to Corwin's to do gifts and breakfast with them and then went back to Mom and Dad's for ring-a-lings and gift opening with the Tuttle's. It was fun, chaotic, entertaining, and tiring all at once! Riley tried very patiently to wait until all the presents had been handed out before opening his presents. But it finally got to be too much and he just went to town. Rease was pretty entertained by crawling around from person to person trying to eat any paper and tags she could get ahold of. She was blessed with lots of clothes, toys and books at all of her Christmas' and is working on wearing, enjoying, reading all of them. I would have to say that the present of the year at the Corwin's was my ice cream maker attachment for my Kitchenaid and at Tuttle's was Mom's bicycle basket. Here is the story behind the basket if you don't know already...

My mom loves her some coca cola. Recently the Shed switched

from Pepsi to Coke (according to Ryan it isn't as good as Hap's

but will do in a pinch. By pinch he means if you aren't at Hap's

and going to the Mini-Mart is out of the question....). So Mom was

talking about how she was going to have to walk to the Shed to get a

coke this summer because she didn't think she could ride her bike and

cary the cup. So Abrah was at Walmart and saw a huge bicycle basket

and thought she would get it for Mom's bike and have Josh rig up

some cup holders in it. Their attempt was successful and I am not

sure that I have seen Mom laugh that hard in a long time.

Christmas night we spent time with Mom's side of the family. Woody may have gotten the pinata, but Grandma got the gift of the year. Mom made her a table quilt out of my Grandma's Grandma's old quilt and some of her mom's handkerchiefs. Everyone was crying at that point, even Josh! :)

Christmas morning Rease also popped out her 3rd tooth! Then on the 26th out came tooth number 4! She has added 2 more to her collection (finally on the top!) last weekend. So we are up to 6 and counting!

On the 30th we went to see Dr. Mark Jones at his chiropractic practice in Westfield. Rease is still battling the ear infection she has had since Thanksgiving and Abrah told us their was something Mark could do to help her ears drain better. So I called them up and he got us right in and it did seem to help for a day or two. I will be honest and say that I had a really hard time taking her to have it done. If it weren't for the fact that it was Mark I probably wouldn't have ever done it. But, it helped her out for a couple of days so we decided to take her to someone over here (don't worry we did our research and had references) to have it done again. She slept all night last night, so I am thinking it might be helping. Mark told us we would probably have to have the adjustment done a few times due to the stubborn infection she had, but it seems like maybe it is helping out. We go back Friday for another adjustment and then Monday we go see the Ear, Nose, & Throat doctor.

New Year's Eve we spent our first night away from Rease. Mom and Dad came over and watched her while we went to Bloomington to visit with some college friends for the night. I had a great time catching up and enjoying their company, but I sure did miss Rease. I had the hardest time falling asleep because I wasn't at home with her. All I wanted to do was sleep because I knew I could get about 7 hours of straight sleep before we got up and headed back home, but I couldn't fall asleep!

Last Thursday was a snow day for the day care so I stayed home with Rease. It was great. I got absolutely no work done, but oh well. Rease wouldn't nap unless I held her or laid down with her so we both got a good nap and I loved it! I tried to lay her in her crib for her afternoon nap and she just screamed. If you read my last post you know what happened next! Ever since then she thinks she needs to stand up on everything! She keeps trying to stand up on the couch, but the cushions are too thick for her little hands to grab on to and she just falls down. Tonight she even walked from one couch to the other holding my hands. She really thinks she is something!

That is the latest and greatest news from our neck of the woods. Sorry this is a bare post as far as pictures go. We are out of space on our hard drive and external hard drive, so we haven't been able to upload any pics since before Christmas. Hopefully soon we will remedy that problem and I can upload pictures from Christmas, etc.

I am off to sit on the couch and do nothing! I am looking forward to it!

Look what I found

2010-01-08T09:01:00.004-06:00

Just a quick post to say that Rease is getting very mobile and onery! I was home with her yesterday because her day care facility was closed due to the weather. I laid her down for her afternoon nap and she was screaming (she hasn't slept well in 6 weeks do to ear infections, teething, etc. - So now falling asleep on her own is not happening....). I let her cry while I went to the bathroom and when I came out she was so quiet. I thought "No way she is asleep, this would be great!". My predicition was right, she wasn't asleep. She was STANDING in her crib looking down in awe at the pacifier she had tossed on the floor. As soon as I walked in she just grinned. Looks like we will be moving the matress down this weekend. (Sorry the picture is blury, I took it with my phone).

I have a lot of other first and exciting things to share, but I am at work so those will have to wait.

Free....

2010-01-06T20:11:00.002-06:00

I saw this link while reading Angie Smith's blog (here) earlier today. You can get a free 8x10 canvas of your picture and only pay shipping and handling. Sounds like a pretty good deal to me. I am looking through pictures now to decide which one we will get. I am leaning toward a picture of Rease as a newborn, but we'll see.

Enjoy!

Free 8x10 Canvas from Canvas People

As Promised, Even if it is a Little Late

2009-12-21T19:49:00.011-06:00

Sorry for the long delay, things have been very busy around here. Getting ready to spend two weeks away from your house with Christmas and everything else is very time consuming. I can say that we are almost done packing, etc., so now I have some time to blog! And I have gotten many comments about how I promised pictures about a month ago and still haven't done it! So here you go!

Rease is 7 months now and changing so fast. She has been crawling since Thanksgiving Day and talking more and more. Tonight she sat in the kitchen with Chris while I made dinner and said "dadadada..." like crazy. Chris is pretty excited she chose that sound to make first. Although, I keep telling him she doesn't yet understand what she is saying. :)

I took Rease back to the doctor today..ugh. This was our 4th appointment since right before her 6 month check up. So yes, 4 appointments in about 6 weeks - not a streak I want to continue. The last three appointments have been for ear related issues. After two antibiotics her ear infections are still there and very much an issue for her. So we got referred to the Ear, Nose, and Throat specialist today. Our dr. said it could take a week for them to even call us and make the appointment, but I am really praying that it happens sooner than that. For 1 because Rease is miserable while she is sleeping (during the day it doesn't seem to bother her so much) and 2 because we have already met our max. out of pocket for the year and who wouldn't like a "free" visit. Oh well, I just hope it is soon so she can feel better soon.

She loves her food and eats pretty much whatever is put in front of her. I don't think there is anything we have fed her that she doesn't like. She eats puffs whenever she can and picks them up and puts them in her mouth like she has been doing it forever. I have yet to give her any other "solid" food because I am terrified she will choke. I realize this is a fear I am going to have to get over, but I think she is fine for a little while longer :)

We finished up all of our Christmas shopping this weekend and had a few unexpected encounters. First was when I was in The Children's Place getting a shirt for Rease to wear under her Christmas dress. I was waiting in line behind a lady that was nit-picking over every price, changing her mind about what she was and wasn't going to buy and going back and forth between the check out and the clearance racks. I am all for getting a good deal, but this lady was taking forever! All I wanted to do was pay for my couple of shirts and get out of there. So I am waiting, waiting and I see a guy and girl walk in with clipboards and they are walking right for me. I am thinking "Seriously, I do not want to be part of some survey or something - maybe if I just pretend to ignore them they will pick on someone else instead of me". Didn't work. Here is how the conversation went:

Them: Merry Christmas

Me: Merry Christmas to you too

Them: We are with xyz radio station* and would like to wish you a Merry Christmas by
giving you a free $50 gift card.

Me: Huh, what do I have to do if I take the card.

Them: Nothing, just sign here to say you accepted it and have a good Christmas.

Me: Oh, thanks Merry Christmas

*I don't remember the name of the station (hope they weren't expecting any publicity from me...).
Somewhere during that conversation, probably while I had the dumbfounded, man I was a jerk to you and you just gave me 50 bucks face they snapped my picture. It's probably up on the website or something and I look terrible. I told Chris they probably gave it to me because I looked like I could use it (I hadn't exactly gotten "ready" to go to the mall that day). (This is Chris and for a picture of my lovely wife looking at the guy that is about to hand her a free $50 think "Don't even talk to me" go here click on the Northwoods mall $50 gift card give away. She is about the 4th or 5th picture.)

Any way - the second encounter was when we were in Farm & Fleet (similar to Rural King) on Sunday after church. We were walking around finishing up some more shopping and I had Rease in her ring sling on my hip. I noticed a couple of middle aged guys kind of looking at us and following a safe distance behind for a few aisles. Then we stopped to look at something and they came up to us and asked where I got my sling. I am pretty sure Chris and I just looked at them like "what in the world do you want to know that for" because they quickly said "our wives have been looking for one of those". Lol. I refered them to the Maya Wrap website and told them to also check out Etsy.com One of the guys was perfectly content with that little information, but not his buddy. He asked me to turn around so he could see the whole contraption, asked how Rease was sitting in it so she didn't fall out, asked about the rings, how one could be made, asked if he could touch it, and on and on. I didn't mind in the least but I could tell his buddy was more than ready to go. Then he said to him, "hey get out your phone and take a picture". The poor guy that just wanted to get away kind of looked at me shyly and asked "do you mind?". I just laughed and said no and Rease and I posed in the middle of the automotive department for some guy's cell phone shot. It was hilarious. They said thanks and went on their way and as they walked away I could here Mr. 20 questions ask his friend if he was embarrasing him and he said "Yes you are VERY much embarrassing me right now". Lol. It was hilarious.

So, before I go and finish up some dishes and packing up some cookies for the pediatrician's office (have to say thank you for taking such good care of Rease over the last few weeks :) ) I will leave you with some pictures and videos! Enjoy! And we can't wait to see everyone in a few short days for Christmas!

Rease was so tired one night she fell asleep when I was burping her.

Cranking out some tunes on the Baby Einstein piano

Crazy look on her face, but had to show Micah her boots!

A total cheese for the camera

Hilarious, I love her and her crazy hair and drool

Rease and her 4-legged friends (Colby looks hilarious)

Mom made her that Santa hat.

She was totally posing for the camera, it was so cute!

Enjoying the wrapping paper on a present from her

day care teachers.

I am pretty sure she was making some pretty loud

sounds during this picture.

So cute, this was on Saturday last weekend.

After she opened her gifts from us on Sunday,

she keeps thinking all of the ones under the tree are for

her as well. I caught her chewing on this gift.

Sorry Mom, some of the paper is missing off one of

your gifts...

Caught, red handed....

Enjoy these videos. One of her crawling across the living

room (sorry for the mess...), and one of her laughing

while we are playing (ignore Chris passed out in the chair, he had

just gotten his eyes dialated and wasn't good for much....).

A Day in the Life....

2009-12-10T20:38:00.003-06:00

I have a lot of cute pictures and videos to catch up with since Thanksgiving, but things have been a little hectic around here. Let me elaborate...

Last Wednesday I picked Rease up from day care and I could tell from across the room she had some nasty pink eye going on. Her eyes were so bloodshot and had all the goop oozing out of them, it was terrible. We got the drops and got a refill on her ointment (since we couldn't find the tube from the pink eye she had last month) and figured it would be looking better by the next day. We were wrong, I think it looked worse. So I stayed home with her and got her in to see the doc to make sure all that drainage coming out her eyes (and nose by this point) wasn't moving in to her ears. It was, dang. Ear infection #3....boo

She was looking mostly better by Friday so she went back to day care and I had to go to work...bummer...

The weekend rolled around and we had big plans of getting Christmas shopping done, putting up the Christmas decorations, getting the house cleaned up (because we were supposed to have visitors off and on this week), and making dinner for said visitors.

Well, Saturday rolled around and Chris had an eye appointment (yes, we are procrastinators and wait until the very end of the year to use our eye benefits...) and they dialated his eyes. Chris with dialated eyes = worthless for the rest of the day. I can't remember the last time I had my eyes dialated (well, I guess I can but it was after work already and I am always worthless after work) but I didn't think it was so bad. Saturday was also exceptionally sunny. Not a good combo. So Chris came home and sat in the chair with all the curtains closed and his sunglasses on for the majority of the day. I managed to get some cleaning done and some online shopping but that was about it.

Sunday I woke up feeling like I was getting all kinds of sinus trouble coming my way and didn't really feel well at all. I mustered up the energy to get out of bed and ready for church and off we went. Rease didn't take a nap before church and was fighting the thought of one after. I finally got her to go to sleep and we got the tree up and then she woke up. Chris and I both tried numerous time to get her to go back to sleep and she wasn't having any part of it unless one of us held her. So Chris sat with her asleep in his arms in the chair and I tried to find the energy to decorate the tree. I usually love decorating the tree, but this year not so much. I felt miserable by this time of the day and I just wanted it done. Does it look good, not so much - but it is up and decorated. That in itself is more than my big ol' pregnant self did last year for Christmas!

Sunday night Chris and I did find the energy to make 2 9x13 pans of shells and 2 loaves of french bread. One pan and the bread was for a couple in our church that just had a baby a few weeks back and the other was for a dinner we were supposed to have at our house with another couple from our church on Wednesday.

Monday I still felt terrible and Rease had since picked up a fever which meant she couldn't go to day care. I knew I couldn't handle being at home with her all day feeling like I did so Chris stayed home with her while I went to the doctor and was told I had H1N1. I really don't believe that I had it because I didn't have a lot of the symptoms, but whatever I guess. It is what it is.

So I called the guy from church and told him of my illness and said we wouldn't be offended if they didn't want the food, eventhough I was sure the oven would kill any germs. He kindly declined the offer at the looming threat of H1N1 and a new baby and said we would have to do it again later. Then I called the other couple and told them we were all sick and dinner would have to wait on Wednesday. So there it is 2 9x13 pans of shells in my freezer. Holy cow, that is a lot of shells! And no one to eat them!

Fast forward to today, we are finally getting healthy around here and spent last night making 3 batches of cookies for Chris to take to a carry in at work today. So, we were looking forward to a relaxing night tonight (except the double batch of rolls I had to make for Chris to take to another carry in tomorrow....they like to eat at Cat).

I picked up Rease and about died of laughter and humiliation when I read the note on her sheet for today that said "We had to give Rease a bath after her blowout today, there wasn't another option!". Oh gosh, my beautiful blue eyed, army crawling, talking baby girl had pooped all over the place to the point of having to get a bath at daycare. Sheesh. I guess she was just living up to the "pooping machine" nickname they gave her a while back. So we got home (she was alseep from all the excitement of the day I guess :) ) and I started the rolls. I let the dogs out and thought I smelled natural gas outside, but got side tracked by the time I got back inside so I forgot. Then Chris got home and he asked if I smelled natural gas and it hit me that yes I did and I had forgotten. Oops. So I called the provider and told them. In the mean time we realized our furnace wasn't working. Urg.... So Chris was trying to take care of that and I am trying to feed Rease dinner and make rolls. Busy place tonight. We got the furnace working (hopefully for good) and the guy from CILCO came about the gas smell. Turns out the neighbors furnace was causing the issue and he made them turn it off until they got it cleaned. We then felt terrible about it, but I guess being cold is better than dead....

The neighbor did talk to Chris and give him a big hug for calling and tell her how thankful she was that we called because they could have all gotten really sick and such. Turns out today was the first day they had even turned their furnace on (guess they didn't get the message that the low last night was a whopping 5 degrees!). She said they had just been using space heaters and could get buy one more night like that until they could get the furnace cleaned.

So, by the time that was over it was time to put Rease to bed and roll out the rolls and make dinner while they rose. Dinner is now over, the rolls are cooling and I realized that I forgot to call Riley to wish him a happy 3rd birthday!!! I am very saddened at this because I have been thinking about it all day and because I was sick I didn't get his present sent out in time for his party this weekend! I guess I won't be winning Aunt of the Year this year...

Anyway, I have a lot of pictures to post about Rease this weekend. And a few videos of her too - did you catch that I said she is an army crawler. She is all over the place and loving it. She thinks she is pretty cool stuff. But, that is another post. For now I am going to try to rest a minute before it is time for bed!

Sleep Deprivation Leads to Spamming

2009-11-12T20:29:00.006-06:00

**This was supposed to show up before the 6 month post, but it didn't (my computer skills really stink lately). So keep scrolling after you read this and check out Rease at 6 months.**

So, I was pretty sure I was going to get fired on Monday.

First, a little background on my job. I am the system administrator for our computerized maintenance system....aka Maximo.

Now a little background on last week. Rease had an eye and ear infection and sleep miserably all week. Rease sleeping miserably = Chelsea sleeping miserably. So by the time Friday rolled around I was pretty much a walking zombie. I remember sending someone the wrong attachment about 4 times. That should have been reason enough for me to go take a nap in my car at lunch or something, but I didn't. I just kept on keeping on like I wasn't exhausted. I also forgot to turn something in Maximo back on after I "fixed" it. Turns out what I thought I fixed, wasn't so fixed. Read on, you'll see.

I got to work and read my emails and noticed one that said "Chelsea, I received 1500 text messages to my phone last night. Please stop them, this is really annoying. My phone is buzzing like a bee." Or something like that. I really didn't think anything of it. I had bigger issues that morning and I wasn't too worried about some guy having 1500 text messages (and he worked 3rds, so I knew I couldn't talk to him until later int he afternoon anyway).

So I went about my morning, figuring I would fix his issue later. Then I got a call from one of the guys in IT and he was laughing hysterically. He asked why I decided to spam someones phone last night and what in the world was I doing. I told him 1500 wasn't spamming and I would fix it. Then he told me that it wasn't a mere 1500 texts, it was 335,000!!! Woah! What. Seriously? As soon as he said that we were both laughing so hard I thought we would pee our pants. My first thought was, oh crap how much is this gonna cost me. So we started talking about cell phone plans at CAT and how much we pay per text, etc. Turns out we pay 10cents a text...ouch. If he receives all those messages that is about 30,000 bucks. Oh man, how am I going to explain this one to the boss (remember, the economy stinks....).

So, I read over my code time and time again and couldn't figure out what went wrong to make it go nuts like that. Turns out I will probably never know.

But, I thankfully got his phone plan switched to unlimited texting, thank you Verizon, and all is well.

So...you may want to think twice before you ask me to write you any SQL or send you a text....

6 Months

2009-11-12T20:14:00.005-06:00

Happy 6 month birthday to Rease! What a joy she has been to us over the last 6 months.

For an overall update

- she is about 17 pounds, 7 ounces (last week at the doc)
- has the same two teeth she has had for a couple of months now
- still lots of hair on top and not much on the sides
- loves her food, newest taste is avacado
- wants very badly to crawl
- sits up by herself very well
- pretty much adorable!

We have been pretty busy around here the last week or so. We had our house appraised on Wednesday this week (not moving, don't get too excited) so we have been working like dogs to get the house is decent shape so we weren't completely embarrassed when the guy came. We still had dirty dishes in the sink, but oh well. I am really planning to make one of my goals for 2010 to have a clean house. I am tired of letting it get crazy and then working all weekend to get the laundry done and the house clean.

Tonight were Rease's 6 month pictures. I think they are going to turn out fabulous. As always, Nellie did a great job and was taking tons of pictures. We even got to meet baby Norah who woke up from her nap right as we were leaving. I think the pictures should be up online in about a week or so, so we will let you know when they are up. They are going to be great.

Other than that not much else is going on around here.
Here are the most recent pictures. Enjoy!

Rease showing off how well she can sit up by herself.

She also loves to suck on her lip like that. Cute.

I got my hair cut last Tuesday and was trying to get a picture

for Anne. But Chris was at basketball

so Rease and I were trying it on our own, as

you can see; she wouldn't keep her

hand off my nose long enough to get a pic....

sorry anne :)

Mom sent this hat last week. As soon as we put it
on Rease she started smiling. It really cheered her up
after finding out she had an ear and eye
infection.....

Look at how bad her eyes look....
I think she disliked the ointment we had to put in
them more than the infection itself.

These are all pictures I took tonight after we got home from Nellie's.
Notice that her hair is actually laying down.
That took a lot.of.effort

Happy 6 months, Rease. We love you!

First Foods, Halloween, Bath Time, and the Party Wagon

2009-10-31T20:25:00.011-05:00

We have a lot of ground to cover in this post so lets get busy!

First things, first. Rease is loving food. She started solids about 2 weeks ago and is loving almost everything we have given her. I have even gotten her to eat quite a bit of her peas :)

I am trying to make all of her baby food, using organic veggies and fruits when possible. So far we have made squash, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, peas and bananas. I have apples, pears, and avacados on the agenda for tomorrow. I want to make her rice cereal too, but I have to check with the doc about possibly needing iron supplements since all of the baby cereal is fortified with that, so she is eating store bought cereal right now, but hopefully that will change soon.

Here are some peas, pumpkin and cereal.

Rease post dinner.

I am pretty sure she was thining "oh that was good".

Thinking she is hott stuff holding the spoon.

So messy, but so cute.

The bath that took place moments after dinner.

Apparently she was still hungry because she

ate her tows the whole time.

I know, you are all jealous your hair doesn't do this!

Ignoring mommy's attempt at a kiss.

Just hanging out before bed. So happy.

Monday night I was making dinner and kept asking Chris to bring Rease in and get her ready to eat. After a few attempts (and I am sure a little annoyance in my voice) he told me to come in the living room. And this is what I found.

He put his hand on Rease's head to keep it from flopping around (she was falling asleep but he didn't realize it) and a few minutes later she was out. She wasn't happy when I whisked her off to change her diaper (in hopes to wake her up). But, as soon as the food hit her mouth she was happy once again.

Rease really, really, really wants to crawl. Here are a couple of pictures of her trying pretty hard to hone her skills. She is creeping pretty well just needs to figure out to use her hands and arms and not her head. She also likes to lay down and pull herself into a sitting position and then up to a standing position.

Getting pretty

good at creeping along.

She pulled herself up and stood like this for about

20 seconds. She is getting too big!

Hanging out with daddy after work.

The only thing that I like about Halloween is when little kids come to the door dressed up in super cute outfits. Well, that and that the big bag of candy left in the kitchen because we only had 2 of those said kids.

Chris' favorite part of Halloween (well, that might be a stretch, but I really don't know if he has a favorite part of Halloween) is the Party Wagon. We really don't know if that is the proper term, but that is what we call it. Last year we were in the living room and all the sudden could hear "Thriller" being played so loud outside. We opened the curtains and saw a tractor pulling a hay wagon full of adults and glowing lights around town. They just so happened to stop in front of our house for the majority of the song. The entourage was complete with some guy dressed up as a ghost or something walking a dog beside the wagon. Chris has been wondering all week if we would see said wagon again and low and behold - they just drove by. This time with a wagon full of kids and the adults walking behind while belting out some weird rap song involving the Chipmunks. Weird. I would like to say that that is why Rease is laying in her crib screaming right now, but it isn't. She has woken up about 2 times after being put to bed for the last week and half. She won't go back to sleep on her own, is dry and isn't hungry. If Chris goes in she just screams more and won't calm down at all. I go in and she falls asleep as soon as I pick her up and sit in the chair. As soon as I lay her down she wakes up smiling and won't go to sleep. So, enough is enough we are just going to have to figure out a way out of this habit. So it has been about 5 minute of crying so far and it is more like a wimper here and there now. I'll give it another 5 and hope she is asleep by then.

Anyway, back to Halloween. Rease was a ballerina. Not the best costume idea ever, but it only took me about 20 mintues to make the tu-tu and I wanted something that could be worn in her carseat (even though we only went to one place). I also bought her some rather adorable Robeez a while back and she has only worn them about 5 times. At that rate it is costing about 6 dollars per time she has worn them so I wanted to find another use for them as she has just about outgrown them. Here are some pictures.

Rease's Halloween outfit for daycare.

The only explanation I have for the crazy look on her face

is it was really early.

I probably look that dazed in the morning too.

These were uploaded out of order, but cute.

So enjoy!

Daddy said something very funny during bath time.

I love to get a bath in my bumbo seat!

I am getting pretty chubby!

Back to Halloween

I love this one, probably my favorite.

Those eyes melt my heart every time I see them.

"I am not too sure about this outfit mom"

Adorable. They both look so happy.

Look at the baby and not the sink of dirty dishes!

Halloween 2009

She still isn't done crying so I guess I will go back in and try again. Good night all. Hopefully Rease will be sleeping soon. Enjoy this video on your way out! P.S - I got her to sleep before the video finished uploading, yea!

Coming soon to a blog near you!

2009-10-29T08:03:00.000-05:00

I have new pictures and even a video to update the blog with, but haven't had time yet. I am going to try to do that tonight. So keep an eye out for a new post!

We have been busy around here but it never seems like we get anything done! I haven't even made Rease's Halloween costume yet!

Hopefully I can get a post up tonight! You are going to love the pictures!

Slowly getting back to normal!

2009-10-14T20:05:00.007-05:00

The change in Rease from last week to Monday when I picked her up from daycare is like night and day. Seriously, how can altering her routine make her that upset! If I said I don't plan on altering her routine any time soon I would be lying. Since we are going home to see Ryan on his impromptu visit home on Monday and Tuesday. Yeah for seeing Ryan, but hopefully Rease will adjust better this time.

Anyway, Rease is doing great. Eating well, not biting (thank goodness) and sleeping much better. Monday night she even slept through the night again. What a way to commemorate her 5 month "birthday"! Sunday night she was awake for about 2 hours but it happened to span the time of 2:47 am Monday morning....so it is okay because I just sat there rocking her and loving every minute of thinking about her birth day! We actually got a few good pictures in St. Louis. If you look closely in a couple of them you can even see her two bottom teeth! They are in and sharp! I am pretty sure she is working on the top two because she is again chewing on everything in site and is a drooling queen.

She is starting to sit up pretty well on her own and pull her legs up under her when she is on her belly. She is starting to love Colby and Molly too. When I took her to the kennel with me to pick them up after we got back from St. Louis, she got all excited and started talking and waving her arms around when she saw them in the yard. How cute. I took her to the doctor last week (Oct. 8) and she was 15 lb, 14 oz. Doing pretty good in the weight department considering she really isn't getting any solid foods yet. **We stopped cereal last week when she was super fussy to make sure it wasn't related to that and haven't started back up again**

Last weekend Mom, Dad, Josh, Abrah and Riley came over to help us with some landscaping projects in the back yard. The guys did all of the work and we entertained Rease and Riley. Except for when Riley got all bundled up with his winter gear (it was freezing) and his tool belt to go outside and help. I didn't get any pictures because my camera was dead and I have no idea where the charger is. He was super cute though. We went to Tanner's Orchard on Sunday after church and it was also freezing so Rease and I sat in the car after the store walk through. We actually saw snowflakes on the drive there! In October! Crazy!

I know this post was all over the place, but hopefully you were able to follow most of it. Here are some pictures and a link to a bunch more from September and October (click here). Enjoy!

Rease and Chris in downtown St. Charles, MO

Rease and Chelsea in St. Charles

(very cool place & shopping if you have never been)

New landscape rock around the fire pit, swing and house.

Rease showing off her new bunny slippers (thanks Kristen!)

Loving the exersaucer (thanks Laura)

Downtown St. Louis

Rease living it up in St. Louis

No matter how many times we put Orajel on Rease's gums she makes this face.

No sound, but hilarious.

I can't figure it out....

2009-10-07T19:34:00.003-05:00

You know what I can't figure out....why Rease has suddenly become super grumpy. It started on our trip to St. Louis (that stunk so much we decided to pack up at 6 am and come home a day early, I'll save the details for another post). Ever since last Saturday she doesn't want to eat and is super grouchy come bed time. Whenever it is time to eat she acts hungry and then she gets close to me and arches her back and become stiff as a board and just screams. Ugh...I have about come to the end of my rope. 5 days of that is about enough to drive any one insane. If she does decide to nurse she gets in about 3 minutes (5 if I am lucky) and then repeats the stiff as a board tactic. I thought she was being stubborn about nursing because we were having to give her some milk in a bottle with her medicine (for the ear infection she had a couple weeks ago). But the medicine has come and gone and her mood hasn't. :(

Bed time is pretty much the same thing. She is so tired and falls asleep about the minute I pick her up. She used to be a great baby to put to sleep. Feed her, read to her, sing a couple songs lay her down and she would fall asleep in about 3 minutes. Now I lay her down and she stays asleep for about 3 seconds (won't fall asleep on her own) and then decides she has to roll over to her belly and the crying begins. Monday and last night the screaming went on for about 30-40 minutes. Last night she also woke up twice and she usually only wakes up once. Oh wait, she had been sleeping through the night until that darn trip to St. Louis.... So last night she woke up and stayed awake doing the crying when I lay her down routine for about an hour.

I love Rease to death, but right now she is about all I can handle. And yes, I am pretty sure I am just as grumpy. Any advice on what to do to help her break these habits? I don't think it is her teeth bothering her because both of her bottom ones have been in for over a week. Any advice is welcome because I am about to pull my hair out!

Quick Pics

2009-10-02T21:49:00.004-05:00

We are going to St. Louis for a little time away tomorrow so as I sit here waiting on the washer to get done I thought I would post a couple of pictures. I have more new ones on my camera, but I don't have the energy to find it or download them, so maybe another day.

Before the wedding last weekend, Rease wasn't cooperating.

Isn't the dress Mimi made so beautiful!

First time trying cereal! Still isn't a huge fan.

Here is Rease talking away in the car last week on the way home from work. Ignore the videography...as I took it with my cell phone while driving. I am pretty sure she is talking well in this one - I took three and don't want to wake her up listening to them, so I just picked one.

Eight is Great

2009-10-01T07:21:00.002-05:00

Yes, that's right; I got eight straight hours of sleep last night. We had to wake Rease up at 5:20 so she could eat and get ready to go to day care. I am so glad we all slept so well last night. I don't even think I moved once I went to bed. Mostly due to the sinus and ear infection I have, but also because Rease was peacefully sleeping ALL NIGHT LONG! This is cause for a celebration!

Almost...

2009-09-25T05:31:00.002-05:00

I almost got pictures up last night, but had to pack a suitcase for a weekend trip to Valpo for a wedding.

Rease almost slept through the night last night! She made it until about 4:45, which is pretty good. She did stir around about 1:30 but I gave her pacifier and she went right to sleep. I still figured I would get in bed and she would be awake about 5 minutes later, but nope. She didn't make it til 5:30 when we usually get her up but 4:45 is close enough for me to get excited! Since we are going out of town I know it probably won't happen again, because her sleep is always messed up for about a week once we go out of town. In fact, between going home for Labor Day, teething, and an ear infection her sleep hasn't been her "normal" in a while. Maybe we will replace the old "normal" with sleeping through the night? Could I be so lucky? I doubt it....

For now I am off to do my hair, pack a lunch, and finish packing for the weekend! Have a great day!

Pearly Whites

2009-09-24T07:50:00.002-05:00

As of yesterday Rease's first tooth is officially all the way in! The entire top has broken through the gum and is SHARP! She was a pretty happy camper throughout the teething experience, I am hoping the rest of her teeth will be just as smooth! I haven't gotten a picture yet, because her tongue is always in the way. I think she bit her tongue or something last night. She was sitting there happy as can be playing with a toy and chewing on her fingers and then just started screaming. I guess she is still getting used to that super sharp tooth hanging around in her mouth.

She did get an ear infection this week so I got to stay home with her yesterday while we met the 24 hours of antibiotics and 24 hours without a fever rule. It was great. Not great that she was sick and not feeling 100%, but great that I got to stay home with her. It just happened to be on a day when the neighbor was cutting 2 trees down so she wouldn't nap in her crib much. Which I am a little bummed about because I really wanted to lay down and take a nap too, oh well.

Rease has also decided that she is too cool to sleep on her back anymore. Friday night she decided that since she could roll over she needed to sleep on her stomach. She is hilarious. She rolls over and instead of pushing her arm out from under her she grabs the slat of the crib and pulls up her whole chest and then just rolls her arm out. Seems like more effort than it is worth if you ask me, I would just wiggle my arm out.

We borrowed Laura's exersaucer and Rease is having a ball. Until she tried to put one of the toys in her mouth and she just sits there and bangs herself in the head with it. She also has figured out where the tv is and will squirm around and roll over until she is in perfect view of it. And that is why Chris and I pretty much only watch TV after she is in bed, if we watch any at all.

I have some pictures to post, but probably won't get them up until tonight. I just wanted to tell you all the good news on the dental front!

Who Knew??

2009-09-18T09:24:00.004-05:00

Updated to include brand names :)

Who knew that sending a different brand of bottle (Phillips Avent) to daycare would cause Rease to eat twice her normal amount??

Wednesday all of the "normal" (Gerber Nuk) bottles I usually send with Rease to daycare were dirty. So I sent her with another brand that we have had for a while but never used. I picked her up that day and all three of the bottles were sitting on her shelf EMPTY! That has only happend once before. I said, "Huh?" and the teachers just laughed, I didn't even have to point at the bottles or anything. They said, "We thought the same thing, we couldn't believe she ate all of them". So I sent them yesterday and she drank them all again. So today I put in 5.5 ounces in each one so we will see if they are empty when I pick her up. (She rarely drank more than 3 ounces in the other bottles).

I feel kind of like we were starving her! Oops!!!

4 Months and the Latest Happenings

2009-09-13T21:12:00.011-05:00

Rease turned 4 months old yesterday! I know I say this every month, but I have no idea how she grows so fast and how in the world can it be 4 months already?!

She felt like doing something really special to commemorate her turning the big 4 months, so yesterday she ROLLED OVER from her back to her belly. She has bee so close to doing this for well over a month but always gets distracted by her thumb before she gets all the way over. :) She also rolled over from her belly to her back today. Both were done with much ease, so either she has just been waiting on Chris and I to put the video camera away before she did it, or she has been doing it at day care for days and they are just too nice to tell us. I ask every day though, so hopefully they aren't lying. :)

Rease spent her entire 3rd month of life drooling like a fool and learning how to chew on everything in site. She is very good at finding what she wants and getting it to her mouth in a hurry. Sometimes she even finds things she shouldn't want and tries to get them to her mouth too, Colby's tail for instance. Thankfully I had her on my lap at that point and stopped that one quickly. Yuck. All this being said because this morning I could feel the beginnings of a tooth. Her bottom right one to be exact. She has been chomping on our fingers for weeks, but today in church it felt very sharp and pokey. So, Rease is also starting to get her 1st tooth. Big events are taking place around here!

Other than that she has started to babble and shriek and carry on pretty much all of the time. She has the cutest, high-pitched squeal. We love it and crack up whenever we hear it. We have also tried to get a decent video of her talking and squealing, but like the rolling over, she will not do it when the video camera is on. I guess we aren't raising a movie star. Lol.

Rease also thinks the best position to be in is sitting up. She is pulling herself whenever she gets the chance to. Whenever she is in her carseat she is always straining so hard to try and get herself up, too bad that harness is always in the way! She does the same thing in her swing. She grabs on to the metal sides and looks like she is trying to do a pull up or something. It is hilarious.

She also loves her feet! She can't get them to her mouth yet, but she yanks and yanks on them. It is amazing how easy she entertains herself!

Her 4 month shots went great, Chris took her this time. She also got her 1st cold this week. Yuck. She has been sleeping in her swing for the last few nights because that was the only place she wouldn't cough. We moved her back to her crib tonight (with her matress elevated), so let's hope the coughing stays away.

Here are some pictures from the last few weeks. Some have comments some don't.

Enjoy!

The White (Barb's maiden name) Family on Labor Day
The Corwin Family on Labor Day

Chris had a little Rease photo shoot the other day, but for some reason my
pictures loaded in reverse order on here. She was
happy in the beginning and a little not so happy
at the end, so enjoy them in reverse!
The Many Faces of Rease

The Paula Deen cinnamon rolls I made a while back, man

they were AWESOME. As requested, recipe is below.

Rease's favorite place to sleep.....our bed.

Riley aiding in giving Rease a bath over Labor Day.

Do you like the strategically placed bath toys?

Thank Abrah for that one.

No embarrasing pictures for Riley when he is older.

And Abrah will have to post about the big bandage/plastic bag on his hand.

AND SERIOUSLY, WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO WITH HER HAIR!?!?

Cinnamon Rolls
Recipe courtesy Paula Deen
Prep Time: 20 min
Inactive Prep Time: 1 hr
Cook Time: 30 min
Serves: 12 to 15 servings

Dough:
1/4-ounce package yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 cup scalded milk
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter or shortening
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg
3 1/2 to 4 cups all-purpose flour
Filling:
1/2 cup melted butter, plus more for pan
3/4 cup sugar, plus more for pan
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
3/4 cup raisins, walnuts, or pecans, optional
Glaze:
4 tablespoons butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 to 6 tablespoons hot water

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water and set aside. In a large bowl mix milk, sugar, melted butter, salt and egg. Add 2 cups of flour and mix until smooth. Add yeast mixture. Mix in remaining flour until dough is easy to handle. Knead dough on lightly floured surface for 5 to 10 minutes. Place in well-greased bowl, cover and let rise until doubled in size, usually 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
When doubled in size, punch down dough. Roll out on a floured surface into a 15 by 9-inch rectangle. Spread melted butter all over dough. Mix sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over buttered dough. Sprinkle with walnuts, pecans, or raisins if desired. Beginning at the 15-inch side, role up dough and pinch edge together to seal. Cut into 12 to 15 slices.
Coat the bottom of baking pan with butter and sprinkle with sugar. Place cinnamon roll slices close together in the pan and let rise until dough is doubled, about 45 minutes. Bake for about 30 minutes or until nicely browned. Meanwhile, mix butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla. Add hot water 1 tablespoon at a time until the glaze reaches desired consistency. Spread over slightly cooled rolls.

Some pictures....comments to follow

2009-09-03T06:16:00.003-05:00

She really likes the little monkey rattle that is barely visible in the corner. I kept

trying to get her attention and she was ignoring me :( I think

she was trying to figure out how she could get to it.

"Give me the monkey, I want to eat him!"

Finally starting to somewhat enjoy tummy time. Maybe one
day she will actually roll over. :)

I think she has the biggest eyes on the planet..........

Another shot of her HUGE eyes!

4:30 and tired...........

2009-09-01T07:15:00.003-05:00

Rease has yet to sleep through the night, which is no big deal. Since I am gone all day I don't really mind getting up to feed her that one time during the night....... As long as that one time isn't 4:30! Usually she has eaten by 2:00 or 2:30 and last night when I rolled over and looked at the clock and it was 2:33 and she wasn't awake I thought to myself "maybe this will be the night that Rease sleeps all the way through, til 5:30"....so I rolled over and went to bed. She woke up about 4:20 and was fussing and I could hear her chewing on everything in site. She likes to roll her face over in her crib and try to eat the sheets when she is really hungry. So I got up, hoping that I could feed her just enough to get her to go back to sleep for another hour and I could sneak in another 20 minutes of sleep before I had to get up. Nope....she ate a little and then was wide awake. I finally got her to go to sleep about 4:55..... By that time it was time for me to get up and get around to make it to work on time. This wouldn't have been that bad if I wasn't at the grocery store until 9:30 last night and then standing at the sink for 30 minutes washing bottles and pump accessories. **Seriously I don't know how non-breastfeeders can stand to wash all of those bottles! I HATE it!** I finally made it to bed about 10:30 and couldn't fall asleep for what seemed like forever. So, I am TIRED!!! It is going to be a long day. My legs feel like lead balloons already! I am so ready for the 3 day weekend

On another, non complaining note.....I promise to get more pictures up tonight or tomorrow.

And, did I forget to mention that today is WOODY'S BIRTHDAY!!!!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY WOODY! **I wish I had some embarrassing childhood picture to put up here, but I am at work so this is all I've got.

Chopped...........

2009-08-20T20:30:00.002-05:00

Monday morning I realized that I hadn't used my hair dryer in weeks. I decided that throwing my hair up in a wet flop to go to work needed to end. So I searched for a shorter, quicker hair cut that I would like and went for it. I wasn't brave enough to go as short as I wanted. (If you know me you know that I have wanted really, really short hair for a long time but have never been brave enough to go through with it). So this is my first step towards maybe someday having the short hair I have always wanted. It is super easy to do and looks pretty good. Sorry for the cheesy picture, Chris is at work and Rease is in bed...so that left me to take a picture of just me....

Pray for Riley

2009-08-19T12:11:00.003-05:00

Please pray for Abrah, Josh, and Riley. Abrah just called and said that Riley's doctor admitted him to the hospital for a breathing problem. I don't know many details, just that he went to the doctor because he was weezing, etc., was given a breathing treatment and then the doctor wanted him admitted because he didn't feel comfortable sending him home. At this point I don't think they are sure what is causing it, but Abrah said maybe broncitus, asthma, etc.

I am at work, so I don't have any recent pictures but I thought this one was a fitting description of Riley. This was taken last summer at Micah and Caleb's wedding after he went to the water fountain for a drink. He is rotten, but we all love him dearly. Pray for him to get better soon!

3 Months

2009-08-12T20:24:00.004-05:00

Rease is 3 months old today, I can't believe it. I also can't believe we got to help commemorate her 3 month "birthday" with a 3 day hospital stay. Other things that she is up to these days:
- laughing
- trying to blow spit bubbles on purpose
- still not enjoying tummy time
- trying very hard to roll over, until she finds her thumb and would rather suck on that
- sucking on her thumb every chance she gets
- smiling like crazy
- started daycare (8/3/09)
- chewing on anything that gets close to my mouth
- making Chris and I happy every day!

So here is how are weekend played out along with a couple of photos.
Friday after work I picked her up from day care and thought she felt a little warm so I brought her home and took her temp (thought she had been acting like she was getting a cold all week, but no fever, etc.). It was about 100.4. I called the Dr's office and they made us an appointment at the Pediatric After-hours Clinic since they were closing. We got there a few hours later and her temp was 102.9. They said she just had some kind of cold virus and to keep an eye on her and give her some tylenol. If she started having problems breathing, throwing up, becoming dehydrated give them a call.

Friday night stunk. She didn't sleep much and she had to be held the entire night. We even tried putting the bassinet back in our room instead of putting her in her crib and that worked for all of about 5 minutes. Needless to say, Chris and I were spent; along with Rease who also felt pretty bad.

Saturday was the same thing, until about 11:00 when she started throwing up. I called the doc and they said to get her the ER as soon as possible. So here we were, still in our pj's, no shower, and needing to make our first visit to the ER. We got there and only had to wait about 25 minutes, thank goodness. The doctors checked her out and her temp was 104. Poor girl. They said they wanted to do x-rays and draw blood to test the function of her kidneys, liver, etc., to make sure there were no infections there. They also tested for bladder infection, UTI, etc. Then they said, since she is so young and her fever is so high and she is so irritable we are also going to do a spinal tap to make sure she doesn't have meningitis. Great, just what I didn't want to hear. Shortly after all of this was done and she was sitting there with us looking and feeling pathetic and hooked up to her IV they told us they were admitting us. They watch the cultures for all of the above for 48 hours to make sure no infection pops up. And as a safety precaution in case she had meningitis she would be getting antibiotics which also required a hospital stay.
So, that is where we spend Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. Thankfully all of her cultures were negative for infection and finally on Monday late morning her fever finally broke. We are thankful that it was just a very nasty intestinal virus and nothing more serious. Thanks to every one who was praying for Rease to get better. We really appreciated it

Taken today....starting to feel better

Told you I chew on everything in site
Taken today with Chris during the day, feeling much better

Sunday in the hospital....finally asleep

Saturday in the ER...doesn't she look so unhappy

Another ER shot. This was after all of the poking and proding....

Friday night at the doctor....Chris was feeling sad that Rease didn't feel well

Getting ready for the 1st day at day care!

More 1st day shots...

Sitting with Daddy before leaving for daycare

I will try to get a link up to the rest of her "3 month pictures" up over the weekend.

One sick baby...

2009-08-10T13:49:00.002-05:00

As most of you already know, we have been camping out at the hospital since Saturday. Rease is asleep now and her fever has been gone for about 4 hours. Woo hoo! We are hoping to get released to go home sometime in the next few hours. They said it could be as late as tomorrow, but I am really hoping it is today. Anyway, I am going to rest while Rease is asleep. Maybe I can even work in a shower!

A Chocolate Lover's Dream....

2009-07-21T19:38:00.002-05:00

I am really not a huge fan of chocolate, unless it comes in the form of Sycamore ice cream or brownies. Some friends of ours have been watching Rease on Monday nights, while we go to our Total Money Makeover small group at church, so I decided to treat them to dinner this week (Since they won't accept any payment...). I made stuffed shells with spinach and broccoli (spinach was a nice addition to the filling), beef house rolls and some super wonderful brownies. Here is the recipe in case you are craving some chocolate too.

The Best Fudge Brownies Ever **
1 C. butter
2 1/4 C. sugar
1 1/4 C. Dutch process cocoa
1/2 tsp salt (up to 1tsp if you use unsalted butter)
1 tsp baking powder
1 Tbsp vanilla
4 large eggs
1 1/2 C unbleached, all-purpose flour
2 C. chocolate chips

-Preheat oven to 350 and grease a 9x13 pan
-In a saucepan, melt the butter and then add the sugar and stir to combine. Return mixture to the heat briefly, just till it's hot, but not bubbling; it will become shiny looking as you stir it. Heating the butter and sugar a second time will dissolve more of the sugar, which will yield a shiny top crust on the brownies. Transfer mixture to a mixing bowl.
-Stir in the cocoa, salt, baking powder, and vanilla. Add the eggs, beating until smooth. Then, add the flour and chips, beating until well combined. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan.
-Bake brownies for 28-30 minutes, until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean (might have a few crumbs, but i am sure you all know how to tell when brownies are done...)
-Cool completely before cutting (I have it on good authority you don't want to cut them when they are still warm...they just ooze everywhere, unless of course you are adding it to ice cream or something that just goes great with a warm, gooey brownie!).

**I didn't name them "The Best Fudge Brownies Ever", King Arthur Flour did; but, I would definitely agree they are worthy of the title.

Enjoy!!!

Two Months...

2009-07-16T14:39:00.002-05:00

We can't believe Rease is two months old! Time goes so fast! She is growing by leaps and bounds, weighing in at 12 pounds 9 ounces and 24 inches long. We got her two month shots on Tuesday and she did a great job. She didn't really fuss at all until the last one. Even then, she only cried for about 30 seconds or so.

Rease is starting to figure out what her arms and legs are and they she can move them however she wants. She starts kicking her legs everywhere when she gets excited, it is so cute.

Here are some pictures from this week.

After getting her shots. I was disappointed she didn't get a

fun bandaid...

And yes, that is a big spot of blood on her onesie

from the shots...gross

Propped on the couch and loved it!

Can't you tell from her big smile!

Practicing our tummy time skills.
I put this one up for Abrah, since she commented
about her crazy hair after the last post.

Mommy and Rease

Rease wide awake when she should be ready for bed...