I keep telling Scott lately that the boys have been so sweet, it's sick! Jake seriously just oozes it and I had no idea that 3 year old's could be so polite. He thanks me for everything I do and it's not just "thank you," it's "thank you very much". Same with "I love you"-it's always "love you very much, Mama". He says "please" before he asks for anything and "I'm sorry" if he ever accidentally hurts Dylan. He gives unsolicited hugs and kisses all day long and it's just so precious that I could just melt into a million pieces every time.
With as sweet as he is, he definitely has a difficult side. He is so freaking independent and refuses to let you do anything for him. Whether it's brushing his teeth, pouring his drinks, putting on his shoes, buckling his car seat, opening and closing doors, choosing his clothes, etc. His teachers say it's unique for a 3 year old to want to do so much by himself but it is trying on our patience when it could be so much quicker if we just do it. It is still meltdown city every morning when I put on his school uniform because he desperately wants to pick out his own clothes. He has also continued his obsession with the number 5 and now we have to count to five everytime we close the car door. I did it once not realizing Rain Man himself had possessed my child's body and now that's a fun little tradition (insert sarcasm here) he carries on. He is really really headstrong and I have absolutely no idea where he got it from. :)
Dylan learned how to give kisses and high fives a week ago and I love it! I, of course, encourage him to kiss everything now and he just puckers his baby lips up and leans in. Absolutely adorable!!! His eyes light up when you ask for a high five and he looks so proud when his hand connects with yours. He thinks it's hilarious. He has learned a couple new words and his vocabulary so far includes: ball, dog, Mama, Dada, shoe, more, and juice. He has been trying to say "football" but it sounds more like "ball ball". He is sleeping pretty well and usually takes a 2 hour nap during the day and then sleeps from 8pm to 7am. We are so thankful they are feeling better and hope we have had our fill of sickness to last us awhile.
Monday, November 7, 2011
Halloween
We had a great Halloween this year. Jake dressed up like Spider Man and Dylan was a monkey. We got some really awesome pic's which is what it's all about for Mamas. :) Scott pulled Dylan around in the Radio Flyer wagon while Jake and I went door to door collecting loot. He was so shy and timid when we got to each door and would barely whisper "trick or treat" while he flashed his humongous grin and dimples. Candy is a real treat for him as he never ever gets to eat it so after each house he wanted to eat whatever candy they gave him. It took quite some time to do the entire street at that pace but we let him set the rules regardless of the drain on our patience. Dylan really got a kick out of all of the decorations in peoples' yards and would bop the mummies and skeletons on their heads to make their eyes light up and bellow scary stuff.
After we finished our street we went back to the house to pass out our candy on the front step. Jake was in charge of putting it in each kid's bag and would give them two overflowing handfuls a piece. They probably thought they hit the jackpot at our house. Last year he refused to give candy to any kid with a mask because it scared him (no soup for you!!!) but this year he had no problems. The trick or treaters were all talking about the "soda house" across the street which I thought was really funny. Apparently you are super cool if you pass out sodas instead of candy. I remember trick or treating when I was little and being really ticked off at the people that gave out toothbrushes and pennies! How times change...
I let Jake eat all the candy he wanted that night and then the next day I told him to pick 5 pieces of candy to save. He chose his 5 very carefully and then we packed up the rest to give to other little children who weren't lucky enough to get any on Halloween (ie- hidden in the top of our laundry room for Mama and Dada to munch on in secret). :)
After we finished our street we went back to the house to pass out our candy on the front step. Jake was in charge of putting it in each kid's bag and would give them two overflowing handfuls a piece. They probably thought they hit the jackpot at our house. Last year he refused to give candy to any kid with a mask because it scared him (no soup for you!!!) but this year he had no problems. The trick or treaters were all talking about the "soda house" across the street which I thought was really funny. Apparently you are super cool if you pass out sodas instead of candy. I remember trick or treating when I was little and being really ticked off at the people that gave out toothbrushes and pennies! How times change...
I let Jake eat all the candy he wanted that night and then the next day I told him to pick 5 pieces of candy to save. He chose his 5 very carefully and then we packed up the rest to give to other little children who weren't lucky enough to get any on Halloween (ie- hidden in the top of our laundry room for Mama and Dada to munch on in secret). :)
Sea World
The boys are finally feeling better so we took them to Sea World in San Antonio this weekend. The trip down there was great until the last 20 minutes during which Dylan cried until he finally fell asleep. Poor baby HATES the car seat and that is the only time that I wish he would take a paci. He doesn't need it except in the car to help him soothe himself to sleep. As soon as he starts fussing, we know it's the storm before the calm but listening to him cry that long in such cramped quarters is enough to drive you insane! He did get a good 20 minute nap before we got there which was good enough to keep him going all day.
First stop was the dolphins which is always my favorite. Jake had a permanent grin the whole time and held his hand out to touch them. Next was aquarium which the boys thoroughly enjoyed because there was a scuba diver on the inside of the tank giving them high fives against the glass pane. Jake thought that was super cool. We saw the Shamu show afterwards and Dylan sat still for about 10 minutes before Scott had to take him outside because he just wanted to get down and roam around. Jake and I got a kick out of the whales splashing everyone with their tales and then he wanted to leave to go find Dada, his hero. Next stop was the sea lions which was almost as cool as the dolphins but not quite. I bought some nectar to feed the birds and Jake and I got to go inside and birds landed on our arms. One actually landed on Jake's head which was hilarious and he kept taking his hat off to find it. We stopped by the dolphins one more time before we left and Jake spent 20 minutes sticking his hands in the dolphin's water. I told him that he would turn into a dolphin if he kept putting his hand in the water and he thought that was really silly. The boys were absolute angels the whole time so Dada bought them an enormous Shamu to bring home that is as big as Jake. They love it to pieces and give it huge bear hugs and kisses all day long. So sweet!
First stop was the dolphins which is always my favorite. Jake had a permanent grin the whole time and held his hand out to touch them. Next was aquarium which the boys thoroughly enjoyed because there was a scuba diver on the inside of the tank giving them high fives against the glass pane. Jake thought that was super cool. We saw the Shamu show afterwards and Dylan sat still for about 10 minutes before Scott had to take him outside because he just wanted to get down and roam around. Jake and I got a kick out of the whales splashing everyone with their tales and then he wanted to leave to go find Dada, his hero. Next stop was the sea lions which was almost as cool as the dolphins but not quite. I bought some nectar to feed the birds and Jake and I got to go inside and birds landed on our arms. One actually landed on Jake's head which was hilarious and he kept taking his hat off to find it. We stopped by the dolphins one more time before we left and Jake spent 20 minutes sticking his hands in the dolphin's water. I told him that he would turn into a dolphin if he kept putting his hand in the water and he thought that was really silly. The boys were absolute angels the whole time so Dada bought them an enormous Shamu to bring home that is as big as Jake. They love it to pieces and give it huge bear hugs and kisses all day long. So sweet!
Friday, October 21, 2011
The Sickies
The boys have pretty much been sick since Dylan's birthday and it has been a nightmare. It's been a month of ear infections and fussy little monsters. Poor Dylan has been absolutely miserable and doesn't hesitate to let you know. Lots of crying and refusing to eat, sleep, and do anything that doesn't entail being connected to my hip. Jake has been on 3 rounds of antibiotics and is still complaining that his ear hurts. He has actually been a trooper throughout this ordeal and aside from waking up throughout the night in pain and finding refuge in our bed, he has been a sweetie pie. I am so hopeful the end of the sickness is near. :(
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Dylan's First Birthday Party
Last night was one of my favorite nights ever. First choice would be our wedding, second and third choice would be Jake & Dylan's births and then last night would be fourth. Dylan's first birthday is on Tuesday so we invited a small group over of close friends and family to celebrate on Saturday. We had the best time! We usually have big "to do's" and rent out spots but wanted something more chill this time at our house which worked out perfectly. As soon as the Reeder kids stepped in the door, Jake ran up to me squealing and dragging my arm through the maze of friends so that I could lay my eyes on the most exciting people to come into our house since Spiderman-Reese and Pierson! His reactions to seeing his BFF's was one of those moments you regret not getting on video. Oh, he was so super excited-I didn't see him again for the entire night. They jumped in the bouncy house with him, pulled him around the yard in the new double Radio Flyer Wagon that Papa got for Dylan's birthday, ate cupcakes with him, and made up their own version of pool. Reese is such a diligent little baby sitter and reported back with updates all night long. "Miss Maggie, I just want to let you know that Jake is on the swing now...Miss Maggie, I just want to let you know that Jake fell in the jumpy house and bent his thumb back but he is fine now...Miss Maggie, I just wanted to let you know that Jake wanted another cupcake so I gave him a yellow one so it wouldn't stain his outfit"...I adore her and Jake is about as smitten as it comes when he spends time with her.
Dylan was just a precious little angel sent from Heaven all night long. I got an adorable outfit made for him at the Monogram Lady on Far West. It's a little brown and white checkered onsie/ overall outfit that they sewed a number one on in brown minky dot fabric with his name on it in turquoise. So cute! I got the boys ready that night while Scott was at Flores picking up the food. Of course he didn't order it until he was on his way so he had to wait at the bar for 45 minutes until the food was ready-shocker. A couple of tequila shots and margaritas later, he headed back to the house and was appalled upon his arrival to see Dylan's preppy outfit. He offered to help me with the baby so that I could set the food up but then I caught him in D's bedroom trying to change him out of his first birthday outfit!!! Nice try Scottie D but there is only one day in D's life that I am allowed to dress him up in a ridiculously gay outfit and I will take full advantage of my opportunity.
The highlight of the night was watching Dylan eat his birthday cupcake. His first cupcake ever, actually. It was vanilla with bright blue frosting. I couldn't find my birthday candles but I did find the #3 candle I had bought for Jake's 3rd birthday party but couldn't find when it came time for his cake-classic. Poor second child doesn't even get his own #1 candle. He adored squeezing the frosting through his fingers and watching it ooze out the other side. He finally took a taste after about 5 minutes and would then alternate between a lick and a squeeze for the rest of the cupcake extravaganza. D was covered from head to toe in bright blue frosting and he looked like the cutest sweetest little smurf to ever walk the planet. After a sink bath and some more playtime he and Jake were off to bed.
My friends are like little worker bees that swarmed around all night long cleaning and prepping and holding babies and pouring drinks and it made me so thankful to have such a helpful group of girls. I absolutely adore them all and am so grateful for all of the help. I haven't laughed that much in a really long time and am so excited to have such a successful night. 1st birthdays are the best and Dylan's was absolute perfection.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Funny Boys
My baby boys are hilarious. Dylan has continued his obsession with balls and I have been contemplating a ball themed first birthday party. I feel so guilty about the blow out I had for Jake's first birthday at the Steiner Lake Club vs. the small get together we will have at our house for Dylan's. Jake spent his actual first birthday in Vegas and went to St. Lucia with us the month before when he was 11 months. Poor Dylan has only been to San Diego and won't even receive 1/4 of the presents Jake received from his party. No wonder middle children grow up to have issues. We are setting him up for a long life of therapy where he can complain about how we ruined his life. Regardless, he is happy right now in his naivity until he figures out the conspiracy that second child syndrome will bestow upon him.
Dylan's second word is "dog". He started saying it this week when he sees Gracie and has begun realizing that there are dogs everywhere. Just like balls, he delights in identifying dogs whenever he seems them. He'll point at them at the park or on the sidewalk and say "dah" over and over. It is so funny.
Jake has also continued to crack us up on a regular basis. This past week he started saying "Beep Beep Dot Com" over and over (from the Geico commercial that to my knowledge he has never seen). I am guessing they must say that at his school because we don't watch TV until he goes to bed. He also likes to sing the part of the Katie Perry song that goes "TGIF, TGIF...". Freaking hilarious. He gets really pissed off if you try to do anything for him and crosses his arms around his body and says "I can do it myfelf". The other day when he got home from school and I said his name he said "Stop calling my name, Jake." WTH??? That's a new phrase he pulls out everyday that I have no idea where he picked up. Again-it must have come from those pesky 5 and a half year old's at his school. :) His newest thing is telling us exactly what and who is his favorite. Right now his favorites are green, Spiderman, Miss Kelly, and Dada. Last night I gave him strawberry milk right before bed and I was his favorite for 5 mintues.
Dylan's second word is "dog". He started saying it this week when he sees Gracie and has begun realizing that there are dogs everywhere. Just like balls, he delights in identifying dogs whenever he seems them. He'll point at them at the park or on the sidewalk and say "dah" over and over. It is so funny.
Jake has also continued to crack us up on a regular basis. This past week he started saying "Beep Beep Dot Com" over and over (from the Geico commercial that to my knowledge he has never seen). I am guessing they must say that at his school because we don't watch TV until he goes to bed. He also likes to sing the part of the Katie Perry song that goes "TGIF, TGIF...". Freaking hilarious. He gets really pissed off if you try to do anything for him and crosses his arms around his body and says "I can do it myfelf". The other day when he got home from school and I said his name he said "Stop calling my name, Jake." WTH??? That's a new phrase he pulls out everyday that I have no idea where he picked up. Again-it must have come from those pesky 5 and a half year old's at his school. :) His newest thing is telling us exactly what and who is his favorite. Right now his favorites are green, Spiderman, Miss Kelly, and Dada. Last night I gave him strawberry milk right before bed and I was his favorite for 5 mintues.
The Fire
On Sunday afternoon, 9/4/2011, I started my first crock pot meal (Bacon Ranch Chicken) and played with Dylan as Scott and Jake took a nap together. Around 4:45pm I noticed it began to get really windy outside so I went in the backyard to find a really overwhelming smoke smell from what I thought was the neighbor's grill. Silly neighbors-sucks for them that they burned their dinner! The first fire engine went by on John Simpson (our street) so I took Dylan in the front yard to see what was going on. There were ashes swirling in the air like snow that reminded me of the images I saw on TV of 9/11 after the towers collapsed. Cars started peeling out and racing up the street that dead ends into our house (Medina) like bats out of you know where. Another fire engine went by and the cars were pointing them in the direction of Medina. I brought Dylan inside because the smoke smell and ashes were so strong that I was worried about his breathing ability. I woke Scott up and asked him to hold the baby while I went down Medina to investigate. As I'm walking, our neighbors are packing up their car with belongings and their babies and said their realtor called them to let them know they were evacuating our neighborhood. At this point there were more fire engines and a Sheriff began driving down the street with a megaphone telling everyone to leave. I ran in the house and woke up Jake and put him in the car without even shoes on his feet. I grabbed Dylan and the diaper bag not even thinking to fill it with Dylan's formula (or anything useful for that matter) and put them in the car. All I could think about was getting over to my Dad's to notify him and get him out. Gracie was terrified of all of the sirens and I couldn't get her out from under the bed. Not realizing the gravity of the situation, I left her there to go help my Dad.
Once we got to his house in the next subdivision, he took FOREVER! He is on 24/7 oxygen and fiddled with his tanks for what seemed like at least 10 minutes. He was mosying around his house as if he had all the time in the world and I was seriously about to jump of out my skin. All I could think was his house was about to freaking explode with all of the oxygen tanks in there. There was a heavy cloud of smoke coming towards us from the end of his street and I was becoming panicked. His cat, Murphy, was hiding, too, and I couldn't find him anywhere and by this time the Sheriff was at his door demanding that we leave immediately. We drove up to the hill in front of the elementary school to watch it all unfold and my Dad was just devastated that we left Murphy. He said he didn't know what he'd do if anything ever happened to Murphy so we went back to his house. Luckily, Murphy had come out of hiding so I was able to shove him in the car and turn on his sprinklers. My Dad's neighbors were standing on the top of their roof watering down their roof with a garden hose! Holy sh-t, this is for real. We drove back to my house to try and get Gracie and turn on our sprinklers, too, but they had already blocked off our street. Ours was the first street to be evacuated so I knew at this point that something pretty serious was going down and it was headed right for our home. I had so much regret at this point of everything I had left behind. All of our pic's are on SmugMug but my Mom's whole life and memories are boxed away in my closet and I couldn't believe I didn't grab her stuff. How could I have done that?!?! You always think about what you would grab in a fire but when it is staring you dead in the eye, a rational thought process is non existent.
So we drove away empty handed to the nearest Walmart to stock up on everything I was too shell shocked to remember to gather as we were evacuating. It took us about an hour to get out of the neighborhood and then another two hours at Walmart. We ran into so many people from Steiner there and everyone walked around the store just terrified, trying to keep it together for the kids. Scott called and got 2 rooms at the Embassy Suites in the Arbor because my requirements were a suite and room service. We were so lucky!
That night was terrible. Everyone was telling us that the park on our road was on fire and that our subdivision, Plateau, was the worst affected. We knew it had hit John Simpson area pretty hard and we were just hoping to have been spared. Dylan was up every couple hours that night as he was not sleeping well in his pack n play. Scott and Jake slept on the pull out bed in the living room and I walked around the suite most of the night trying to get Dylan to sleep. The news was absolutely worthless and the only pieces of info we could find were on Steiner Ranch Facebook pages. People were sneaking into the neighborhood on foot and posting addresses of homes that burned and homes that were still standing. We probably checked the sites at least once every couple of minutes for the next few days scanning for info on our address. The next morning we went to the Mansfield Dam and parked our car on 620 along with thousands of others just watching the smoke and trying to figure out where it was coming from. We ran into a guy that lives a few houses down on Medina that said our house was fine. He had snuck back in the neighborhood that morning and claimed that he knew we had the house with "the boat and cool kid toys". At that point a sense of cautious optimism sank in.
That night at the hotel we met so many Steiner neighbors and shared our stories. The next morning (Tuesday) they announced we could go back home at 12 but not to rush as it would be a massive traffic jam and take hours to get back in. Of course we immediately packed our things and drove home and started lining up to get back in the neighborhood around 11:30am. It only took about 30 minutes to get back in and what a surreal drive that was. We had no idea what to expect as we scanned the roads searching for signs on the fire. When we got home and opened the door, Gracie was so excited to see us. She's alive!!!!!!!! The house reeked of smoke and the electricity was out but there was absolutely no damage. In our yard we found huge pieces of burnt ash, some of them almost 6 inches long! We are so very lucky that those burning pieces of the homes around us that settled on our lawn and roof didn't catch fire. There was little rhyme or reason to the path of destruction the fire took. Some houses were unscathed while all of the houses surrounding them burned down to their foundations. 25 homes in our subdivision burned down. Homes within a mile radius to us. We will be forever grateful that we were spared and forever sympathetic for those that were not so lucky.
Once we got to his house in the next subdivision, he took FOREVER! He is on 24/7 oxygen and fiddled with his tanks for what seemed like at least 10 minutes. He was mosying around his house as if he had all the time in the world and I was seriously about to jump of out my skin. All I could think was his house was about to freaking explode with all of the oxygen tanks in there. There was a heavy cloud of smoke coming towards us from the end of his street and I was becoming panicked. His cat, Murphy, was hiding, too, and I couldn't find him anywhere and by this time the Sheriff was at his door demanding that we leave immediately. We drove up to the hill in front of the elementary school to watch it all unfold and my Dad was just devastated that we left Murphy. He said he didn't know what he'd do if anything ever happened to Murphy so we went back to his house. Luckily, Murphy had come out of hiding so I was able to shove him in the car and turn on his sprinklers. My Dad's neighbors were standing on the top of their roof watering down their roof with a garden hose! Holy sh-t, this is for real. We drove back to my house to try and get Gracie and turn on our sprinklers, too, but they had already blocked off our street. Ours was the first street to be evacuated so I knew at this point that something pretty serious was going down and it was headed right for our home. I had so much regret at this point of everything I had left behind. All of our pic's are on SmugMug but my Mom's whole life and memories are boxed away in my closet and I couldn't believe I didn't grab her stuff. How could I have done that?!?! You always think about what you would grab in a fire but when it is staring you dead in the eye, a rational thought process is non existent.
So we drove away empty handed to the nearest Walmart to stock up on everything I was too shell shocked to remember to gather as we were evacuating. It took us about an hour to get out of the neighborhood and then another two hours at Walmart. We ran into so many people from Steiner there and everyone walked around the store just terrified, trying to keep it together for the kids. Scott called and got 2 rooms at the Embassy Suites in the Arbor because my requirements were a suite and room service. We were so lucky!
That night was terrible. Everyone was telling us that the park on our road was on fire and that our subdivision, Plateau, was the worst affected. We knew it had hit John Simpson area pretty hard and we were just hoping to have been spared. Dylan was up every couple hours that night as he was not sleeping well in his pack n play. Scott and Jake slept on the pull out bed in the living room and I walked around the suite most of the night trying to get Dylan to sleep. The news was absolutely worthless and the only pieces of info we could find were on Steiner Ranch Facebook pages. People were sneaking into the neighborhood on foot and posting addresses of homes that burned and homes that were still standing. We probably checked the sites at least once every couple of minutes for the next few days scanning for info on our address. The next morning we went to the Mansfield Dam and parked our car on 620 along with thousands of others just watching the smoke and trying to figure out where it was coming from. We ran into a guy that lives a few houses down on Medina that said our house was fine. He had snuck back in the neighborhood that morning and claimed that he knew we had the house with "the boat and cool kid toys". At that point a sense of cautious optimism sank in.
That night at the hotel we met so many Steiner neighbors and shared our stories. The next morning (Tuesday) they announced we could go back home at 12 but not to rush as it would be a massive traffic jam and take hours to get back in. Of course we immediately packed our things and drove home and started lining up to get back in the neighborhood around 11:30am. It only took about 30 minutes to get back in and what a surreal drive that was. We had no idea what to expect as we scanned the roads searching for signs on the fire. When we got home and opened the door, Gracie was so excited to see us. She's alive!!!!!!!! The house reeked of smoke and the electricity was out but there was absolutely no damage. In our yard we found huge pieces of burnt ash, some of them almost 6 inches long! We are so very lucky that those burning pieces of the homes around us that settled on our lawn and roof didn't catch fire. There was little rhyme or reason to the path of destruction the fire took. Some houses were unscathed while all of the houses surrounding them burned down to their foundations. 25 homes in our subdivision burned down. Homes within a mile radius to us. We will be forever grateful that we were spared and forever sympathetic for those that were not so lucky.
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