Summer is officially here...heat and all!

WARNING - Very long post! (It actually took me a week to finish loading all the pictures and type! So some of the information below is already old news. I am actually publishing this on July 2nd!)

I am going to make an attempt at catching up on previous posts not made. Since I have many pictures from various occasions ranging from Easter and Mother's Day to many milestones for Reese, I want to add those in here. Hopefully I will be better the rest of the summer at adding pictures as I take them! (Yeah right, but it's a good goal!)  

I am teaching VBS right now at our church. Parker is having a great time singing and learning more about Jesus! Reese, on the other hand, is developing into her own little person right now. She isn't so thrilled about being left with strangers and playing by herself, as opposed to being held the entire time. Today they told me, "She is fine as long as someone is playing with her or holding her." Ha! That is definitely NOT breaking news for me. I have spent the past 2 weeks trying to get her to play with her toys on the floor or in her bouncer. She will have none of that, but we are going to keep working on it. Don't get me wrong, she is a precious and very sweet baby, but she demands constant attention. Such a little lady already!

I am so thrilled to be home with my kiddos right now though. This time in their life will pass so quickly and I want to spend every possible minute with them, which is why it's been so hard for me to break away to post pictures and such. I would rather look back on the summer and think about all the wonderful times we shared, instead of what an awesome blog I have. (I have reinforcement right now....Mimi just got here from Oklahoma and they are so excited to see her!)

Anyways, I am going to add pictures/events below that happened during the months of March, April, May and June.

Sorry about the novel, I really want to fill in the blanks so I can make this into a book for my kiddos later!

April

Reese is 6 months old! She is starting to roll over and sit up. She  is still very wobbly and depends on her arms to help her balance, but we say that counts! 

First time sitting up in her bed.

Had to show off her adorable pink and brown.

Playing peek-a-boo with her brother. He is 

always trying to find ways to entertain her 

and make her smile. She will laugh at her 

Bubba like no one else!


The kiddos with their Mimi.

Parker and Reese with Grandad.

Easter - It was freezing cold this year, and rainy, so we hid eggs in Nana's house. You never know what the weather will be like for Easter. The kids looked adorable and Parker had a great time despite the rain.

May

Reese is 7 months old! Her very first tooth popped through on Mother's Day! What a great present for her Mommy! :) It was a bottom tooth and was joined two days later by its neighboring tooth! Two little teeth on the bottom...so cute.

Reese is rolling all over the place. She loves, loves her big brother! :) Her face lights up anytime he walks into the room. It's so wonderful to see admiration towards each other....I pray it will last, but know that the pre-teen/teen years are inevitable.

Parker is ending his first year of preschool. He has had a great year and will miss his teachers and friends. It's amazing the things a three-year-old knows. This child never ceases to amaze me. :)

Mother's Day with my two precious darlings.

It is such an honor to be their mommy!


I love this pink hat on Reese! She knows she 

looks cute in it because she laughs and looks

around every time she wears it!

Reese's first time to wear a swim suit.


Parker and Hunter riding Cimarron with 

Uncle JJ at Grandad's.


Parker and his buddy, Grant playing in the pool.

June

Mom is officially out of school for the summer!! I am so, so excited about spending time with my two precious little ones.

Reese turned 8 months old while we were on vacation in San Antonio. We stayed in Boerne with my Aunt Cathy and Uncle Tom. They were very generous and gracious hosts. It was very hard to leave. Parker also got to spend time with his cousins, McCoy, Hudson, Ainsley and Addison. He had never met them before and had a blast! I can't wait to get them all together again.

Reese is saying and waving bye-bye. Not necessarily in context, but she will imitate me. She is also rocking back and forth on her news. Before we know it, she will be crawling around getting into everything! I just think I am busy now.

Hudson, Parker and McCoy in their jammies!


McCoy and Parker sucking up their juice boxes!

Parker and McCoy. This picture is just too 

precious!


McCoy, Parker and Hudson



Parker and McCoy


Aunt Cathy and Parker. As you can see, Parker 

was not pleased that we were leaving.


Aunt Cathy and Uncle Tommy. 

Thank you for sharing your home 

with us! :)

Reese, looking all grown up!

Sweet Parker Pie

Here are some pictures from Sea World.  

Parker's favorite were the dolphins and 

the Shamu show.

Daddy, Parker and Reese cooling 

off in the aquarium.






Parker feeding the dolphins.


This same dolphin kept playing 

peek-a-boo with Parker. Every 

time he would turn around, the 

dolphin would go back in the water.


The family (minus Reese). 

She was snoozing in her stoller.

Parker with Shamu


These pictures were taken in Boerne. You will see that there aren't a lot of Parker, but that's because we were right by a swimming pool and he wanted to swim and play with his cousins.

I have many new pictures to add from our last trip to the lake, but I will add them with 4th of July pictures.

Reese's Peaches

Hooray for Spring Break!!! It's finally here. The long-awaited week long break that I have been so desperately needing.  We have many fun things planned, but nothing that requires us to travel too far from home. My main goal is to spend time with my children...and not clean my house, which is almost impossible to do. So, instead of cleaning right now I decided to post some pictures of my precious babies while they are napping....who knows how long that will last!

On to the title of this entry ....

Reese had her first taste of "food." I will let you be the judge of whether or not she likes peaches. 

This is our happy little Reese prior to her first

 bite.

A little apprehensive, but I'll try it....

...and then the fun begins...

She still isn't too keen on peaches, but everything else she seems to like. 

Reese is 5 months old as of March 10th! She is such a delight.

I was in their way while they were trying to watch 

Imagination Movers on a Saturday morning! They both 

leaned to the side. Reese even spit out her pacifier.

Parker is my little artist. He loves painting...and soccer, 

so I will take some pics of him playing soon.

My sweet babies.

Always smiling

I still have cute Valentine pictures that I haven't posted. I guess better late than never, but I'll wait and see if time and uh, children, permit. I hope you all are enjoying the weather and having a great time outdoors with your family.

Back to work for mommy

I'd planned to post new pics a long....time ago, but read my title again...need I say more. I went back to work Dec. 1st. It's actually been a fairly easy transition for all of us, but that's only because we have so many wonderful and supportive people in our life. Chris and I are incredibly blessed to have our children taken care of by their Mimi and Nana while we are at work. They sacrifice so much to make sure that our kids are cared for, loved and especially spoiled! :) We wouldn't want it any other way. 

The kids are doing great. Parker did have a little hiccup a few weeks ago. He busted his chin open during Sunday school, but luckily it could be Dermabonded instead of stitched. It has healed nicely. Reese will be 2 months old Wednesday. As usual, time is going by too quickly. Reese has had a stuffy nose for the last week, but other than that she is sleeping and eating like a pro. She is starting to smile more, which melts our hearts every time. Parker got a haircut this week and now looks like a big boy.  He's been so great with Reese. Not one single time has he acted jealous or "neglected." (like he would ever have a MOMENT of neglect!) He always wants to make sure that Reese is taken care of and getting plenty of kisses from her big brother.

I've added a few more pictures below. There are plenty more, but I will add those later. We are still trying to take some pics for our Christmas card...no such luck yet. We'll see if we get those out this year! :)

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season!  ( Just a wish for you in case I don't make it back here for another month!!)

You can see a glimmer of a smile here. They are becoming
more and more abundant! :)

Reese with her new purple bow. She's my sweet girl!

Parker playing in the leaves. He loves running and
jumping in the leaves.

My sweet Parker Pie.

More Pictures

Here are some more pictures, as promised! Parker is at school and Reese is sleeping in my left arm while I type with my right. This could take a while! Everyone is doing well. Reese is getting better at sleeping at night. Last night she didn't want to go to sleep initially, but once she is asleep she is only waking up to eat. She is already growing so much and is starting to get fat rolls on her legs! :)

Today was my first day to take Parker to school with Reese. I was wondering how I would pull off getting Parker to eat breakfast (no small task) while feeding Reese, getting him ready and making myself presentable enough to be in public. All the while getting there on time, but we made it! I still can't carry Reese's car seat or lift her stroller to put it on so I just carried her in with me. She was sweet and slept the whole time. Parker was proud to show off his sister to his teacher and classmates.

Reese's first professional picture. She was such a 

good little girl.


Parker is starting to look so grown up. He did such a good 

job of sharing his sweet smile with the photographer.


Parker Pie and Reesie Peesie Pie (Parker gave her that
name)

This picture was on the other post, but I wanted to share

it again since it goes with the other pictures. Parker can't 

stop kissing her. It's so precious. I would like to hope it 

stays that way forever, but I have big brothers and know 

better!


Bathtime with daddy! This is such a sweet picture. She 

loves her daddy!


So... sleepy! Reese and daddy take a nap.


Story time with Mimi. Parker loves holding his baby sister. 

As soon as she can hold her head better, it will get a little 

easier to hold her. It's just hard to explain that concept to a 

3 year old.

Reese looks like she took a vacation to Hawaii without us. 

Sometimes she is so tan!

Sweet picture of my two precious babies.

I really do have good intentions when I say that I will be regularly post more pictures. But, the truth is, it's a matter of "Do I want to spend more time loving on my children?" or "Do I want to sit at the computer and download pictures?" Being that it's Saturday today, Chris is here and in full daddy mode! Parker and Reese don't even know that their mommy had escaped!

Reese's trip back to the doctor went great! Her bilirubin level had stayed the same as before, so the doctor said it would start coming down instead of going up anymore. As far as her weight, she needed to gain 2 ounces in 2 days and she gained 4.5 ounces! Go Reese....and mommy! She was almost already back to her birth weight at 5 days old.

She is doing wonderful! Last night she only woke up to eat! It was nice to have a little extra sleep. She stays inconsistent in this department, but I am hopeful that she will get it all down soon. I love spending time with her, and I remember how quickly this phase goes by. Even if it means spending time with her wide awake in the middle of the night, I will take it. Parker has grown up so quickly, so I'm trying to slow down and just enjoy my two babies.

Yesterday was Halloween and we had an evening full of festivities. Parker had a blast, and Reese slept through the entire thing. We went to our church for a little bouncy housin', sliding, petting animals and playing games for lots of candy! Luckily Parker liked bouncing more than playing the games, so he didn't end up with a ridiculous amount of candy. Nothing Mommy and Daddy can't help him polish off in a few days. :)

This was Reese's first big outing. Mimi and Nana came with us, so there was plenty of help and time for Chris and I to run around with Parker....and run around we did. He was non-stop for 2 hours. The weather was fabulous. You never know what you are going to get for Halloween. It's usually so hot all the little ones are sweating in their huge costumes their parents bought week ahead of time in hopes to keep them warm, or it's freezing and it's hard to enjoy being outside. So, thankfully, it was right in the middle this year.

Reese has changed so much in the past 3 weeks. I keep telling her to slow down so that I can just hold her and keep her little. Every time I start to say, "I can't wait to see her smile or hold her head up...." I stop myself and remember that in time I will see it all instead of wishing her life to the next moment.

I hope you enjoy the pictures. There will be more to come in the future I am sure. Parker and Reese had their picture taken last week. They turned out so cute. I will add those hopefully within the next couple of days, as well as some other random pictures taken around the house. I hope you all had a wonderful and safe Halloween.


Parker wore his Japanese warrior costume for Halloween.
Thanks Tay!


Mommy and Daddy with their sweet warrior.




Parker feeding the baby pig with a baby bottle. It was so cute
that poor little pig would follow the kids around trying to drink
from the bottle. Of course I felt so sorry for all the animals
because all the kids were handling them not so carefully. :(


A rare smiling moment caught in a picture. Parker wore this same
onesie when he was a little guy. It was neat to see her wear it. Of
course I had to add a big bow with it. :)


Our sweet little pumpkin girl.


Leo was a helicopter for Halloween! Just kidding...I can't believe
I caught this picture. He's such a little nut!

Introducing Miss Reese Caroline and Big Brother Parker

Born 10/10

7 lbs. 3 oz.

20.5 inches long

Reese is finally here! After a long anticipated 9 months, she is here, perfectly healthy and absolutely precious. Labor and delivery were quick and better than I imagined, which is such a blessing. Parker should win the award for Best Big Brother. He has been so wonderful, and such a big boy. He seems so big now that we have held Reese, but of course he will always be my baby boy, Parker Pie. He loves to hold and kiss her. 

We have spent the past few days getting to know her and trying to get some sleep whenever possible. Like most newborns, she has her days and nights mixed up. I need her Uncle J.J. here to offer night relief! :) She has gotten a little better each night. 

She went to her pediatrician yesterday. She had lost 7 oz., which is normal for newborns. But, her bilirubin was higher than when we left the hospital, so they want to check that out again tomorrow. I have her in the sunlight right now, so hopefully that will help.

Sweet little Reese Caroline

Just takin' a peek


Mommy is having fun dressing me up! :)


One of the rare moments caught with her eyes open...so sweet.


Parker and Reese with good friends Melissa and Grant.

Melissa took the boys to Wiggles the night we brought Reese home. He had a great time playing with Grant. Aren't they so cute in their rival shirts? Too bad that's the same day that OU got beat. :(


Another sweet one with her eyes open.


Reese's first bath. She SLEPT through the entire thing.
Parker was a good helper getting her towel and talking to her.


Daddy with his best bud and little girl. She looked so
sweet in her pink towel.