Organized Confusion

Sooner or later I will get better at this

2012-02-13T06:21:00.001-06:00

Sorry it’s been so long since I posted pictures. I know you all wish I was better at it. It’s been business as usual around here. Once the evenings roll around things get pretty busy in a hurry (the daytime isn’t much better). Since my last post of pictures Leslie came in for a weekend visit, Reese has been sick twice, Ryan was sicker once, Brynn is getting much bigger, and Ryan went to Mexico for the week. Not a lot of excitement but enough to throw your regular schedule.

Leslie came in for the weekend back in January and as always we had a great time. We cooked smores outside over the fire pit she got us many years ago for Christmas. It was super fun and we will for sure be doing that again. We also did a quick charity walk in the morning and hung out at the house the rest of the time. Leslie also got Ryan to help clean out the garage and he even threw 2 things away….that is HUGE for Ryan. Every things else that should have been thrown away has been squirreled away in the storage shed, because he can’t part with things. Had Leslie not been here to be rational with him the garage would still be a huge mess. Thanks Leslie.

Reese gave Ryan the 24 hour bug a view weeks ago and in the course of one weekend both she (not as bad as Ryan) and Ryan were infecting the entire house. I have never sprayed so much Lysol in my house as I did that weekend. Ryan was the sickest I have ever seen him, but like any man, didn’t think he was sick so he just laid on the couch in the middle of the house. I kept myself and Brynn as far away from the action as possible, I knew I couldn’t get sick or have her sick, because as all you other stay at home Moms know…we DON’T get sick days. Thank goodness I avoided the bug.

A week later Ryan headed off to Mexico and the girls and I had our first week alone without Ryan since Brynn arrived. We’d been alone a few nights here and there but not a whole week. I have military friends who do it for months, they must have more patience than I do. Ryan left Monday, Reese got sick Tuesday, was sick still Wednesday but was feeling much better Thursday morning. I shipped her off to school hoping for a day to get my work and chores done. WRONG…I picked her up from school at 10 after she puked and we headed back home. It must have been a fluke puke because she ran around like a chicken without a head for the rest of the day. By Friday Brynn and I were not as lucky, since then we have both had a horrifying cough (thanks Reese) and crazy congestion. I can handle it but I feel terrible for Brynn, and as I always say “Moms don’t get sick days”, never mind find time to go to the doctor.

The week without Ryan was pretty easy because I am a firm believer in not over exerting myself to cook dinner when it’s just Reese and I. The first night he was gone we had waffles, the second she was kind of sick so she didn’t eat much and the last two nights she had mac-n-cheese and I had frozen dinners. I thought it worked out great because we were not rushed at night getting everyone fed and in bed. We can do things a lot earlier when Ryan is not home. Reese and I had a great week together but 5 days seems to be the limit, because by Friday Reese was over being home with just me and was a crazed beast…Friday I considered putting myself in time out.

Brynn at our charity walk

Brynn @ 4 months

She rolled over once but I didn’t have the camera near by. After the one time she hasn’t done it again but is very close. Reese was the same way. She can roll from belly to back but is still stuck from back to belly.

Brynn’s rapper look

Such a happy girl!

Daily Antics

2012-01-28T12:40:00.001-06:00

I think am should rename this blog “How I slowly drive my mother nuts: daily chaos by Reese”

Last week she was crying in bed because Maddax wasn’t coming to marry her in the park (all while she’s wearing her bridesmaid dress)….and that the cake she had Ryan “order” wasn’t being delivered.

Yesterday I was about to hop in the shower, Reese was doing puzzles quietly in the kitchen and I thought to myself “It’s so nice that she can be trusted to quietly play alone while I’m in the shower”…I came out to find her standing on her chair “washing dishes”

Today while I was vacuuming, Reese saw an opportunity. I should start by saying Reese has a slight obsession with hand lotion, she LOVES putting on lotion. For this reason I rarely buy it. It’s just an accident waiting to happen. Most times she puts too much on her hands and I find the rest in my sink slowly going down the drain. I got some for Christmas and its been taunting her since. I keep it high up, she finds a way to get it. She’s too smart for her own good. So today while vacuuming she closed my bedroom door claiming the vacuum was bothering her. I should have known better but she was watching TV so I believed her. I finished and discovered said bedroom door to be locked. When I asked her to unlock the door she tells me “I can’t I have too much lotion on my hands.” Ryan and I were not at all surprised by this. The smell coming from my room would lead me to believe she bathed in it. Good ole Reese, my days would be sooooooo dull without her.

I will post pictures later, Reese is foaming at the mouth for me to let her out the door so she can get the mail.

Sit back and get some popcorn

2012-01-19T22:03:00.001-06:00

As I uploaded pictures tonight I realized that I haven’t uploaded since Christmas. I should also point out that I am foregoing my usual routine of watching mindless crap on TV after the girls go to bed in order to get this blog post up. Mindless crap is how I regroup for the next day, that and falling asleep on the couch at 9 pm. Celebrity Wife Swap is a pretty good show.

We’ve been pretty busy around here, using the couch to hold all clean laundry, not mopping the floors, but playing with baby sister, learning letters, playing games, and other important things. You’d know it from the dried play dough under my left kitchen chair. We’re busy with little girls.

So back in December we headed to Kingwood for Christmas with Meme, Grampy, Leslie, Sean, Nana and Grandma. As always the girls got matching pj’s

Brynn riding Kobe the bull. He’s doesn’t make for a very rowdy bullShe lasted the entire 8 seconds

Brynn isn’t big enough to get to match but soon she will be.

obviously a reject…hi Dad

Last summer Reese found out Phineas and Ferb (a show she watches on Disney) was coming to Corpus for a LIVE show. Naturally she begged to go and decided it would be the perfect time for Daddy Daughter Date. Ryan agreed back in August sometime that it was a date. Then they announced that the Aggie’s made a bowl game and that time for the show and bowl game were at the same time. I was stunned that he skipped watching the game on TV to see the show. He taped the game but that’s a whole story itself. Here they are before heading off for their date.

The showAt intermission they had a dancer from the show come down and meet kids. Ryan said they got in line, and each kid smiled, snapped a pic and moved on. Until they got to Reese. He said that the dancer just talked and talked to her, to the point he was embarrassed that they spoke so long, because he was getting the stink eye from other people. After they chatted the line went back to snap and pic and go.

Brynn’s gansta leanSisterly love Notice Brynn already knows how to lean away from Reese. I think the phrase “Reese stop laying on your sister” is used 200 times a day.Playing in the jumperoo for the first time

big smile!We have the exact same picture of Reese, it’s scary how much they look alike (these are both Brynn)

She prefers to chew her hands. We live in Drool City right now.

Reese had cowboy/cowgirl day at school. She wore the vest that Grandpa got me when I was about her age. I swear when you ask her to take her picture she goes right into model pose. I have to ask her to pose “regular” if we want a real picture. She’s entirely too much sometimes

Figured he needed to feel the love too

Brynn started getting rice cereal this week…

Like most kids when they first start out more ends up on her bib than in her mouth.and of course BIG sister had to help.

Reese was jumping around for Brynn yesterday and Brynn was cracking up. Just laughing at Reese, then Reese would run away and Brynn would look for her. When Reese would pop her head back around the corner Brynn would squeal. It was so cute, you obviously don’t get any pictures because I only have some many hands but like I said we’re super busy at the house lately doing fun things like that.

So if you happen to pop in, never mind that there is still a cardboard box containing my Christmas decorations in the living room, and baby toys ALL over the floor, just know we’re real busy making memories.

A Christmas Morning post…

2011-12-25T13:31:00.001-06:00

On most days Reese will ask me if she can play dress-up. I of course have no issues with that. On this day she was an Olympic Gymnast…and you can see she has a great pose for it as well

50 degrees but she’s in flip flops, gloves, a beach cover up and her 18 month old winter coat

Christmas program at school

reading books to Brynn Winter dance recitalmore booksMy dog loves me…and I am STILL tired

B…dressed and ready for bed

Dopey the Elf played Candy Land with Marie, Woody and Sleeping BeautyOma Schubert and BrynnReese and her bear paws

Reese and Brynn with a big smile

I can’t get enough of the girls in their cute dresses.

Family pic take one…Thurman pointing our we forgot about himThat’s more like it

Christmas…we were subdued this year in gift giving

Rocking out on the guitar with her roller-skates on. She has had them on ALL day

Merry Christmas…and Happy Holidays

2011-12-21T15:34:00.001-06:00

From the Bading girls!

Catch up

2011-12-09T16:28:00.001-06:00

So happy

silly Reese Brynn LOVES watching her big sister

this is Reese

This is Brynn. NO neck, just chunk

our pilgrimsReese and her Thanksgiving feast

0it’s official I am 31

Beefcake didn’t fit in the Thanksgiving Day shirt Reese wore…as you can see we couldn’t snap the bottom

We headed to College Station for the last game against t.u. Reese had a blast tailgating and seeing where she was born and the first house she lived in. Such great memories from College Station and it’s crazy how much it has changed.

Brynn’s first tailgateOur “classy” family picThought this was cute Ryan and his friend Jess with their daughters. Tatum and Brynn are 9 days apart so we hope that when they head off to Aggieland together they don’t follow in their father’s foot steps. Otherwise we’re in trouble

Reese’s favorite new pastime…playing computer gamesBrynn is 2 months…I am behind because now she’s 3 months!

Our Christmas Tree…with Reese and her diva face

Me and my girls

Swamp People, Pumpkin Patch, Alabama, Halloween

2011-11-04T22:17:00.001-05:00

So because I am crazy behind on the picture posting there are a TON of pictures to show you. It’s a LONG blog post.

We went to a meet and greet with Troy and Jacob from Swamp People. I LOVE this show and Reese enjoys watching them hunt alligators as well. We were the first ones in line to meet them and they were super nice and really friendly. While we were there the local ABC channel was filming new faces for their commercial and OUR girl Reese made the cut. She shrieks every time she sees herself on TV.

Troy..the king of gatorsJacob….Reese and her friend Luke who was also there to meet TroyReese in front of the TV while her commercial plays!

We went to the pumpkin patch twice, once with our friends from Stroller Strides and once with Ryan to get our pumpkins, and we did some pretty sweet carvings.

Reese and her friend Jackmy “pumpkin”

FYI she dressed herself…and yes she’s wearing wool tights in 80+ degree weather.

Brynn obviously thrilled to have her picture taken

and even more excited!Ryan’s skull and Rosetta (the Garden Fairy from Tinkerbell) which was Reese’s pumpkin and my fine craftsmanship.

Random shot of Brynn…our chunky monkey!

We went to Alabama for my cousin Christie’s wedding where Reese was the flower girl. Reese had a BLAST being the flower girl and told Ryan and I see wanted to get married at the same place and Brynnie could be her flower girl and Maddax (my cousin’s son) could be her ring barrier (as she calls it).

Reese and Maddox

Reese was SO good during the ceremony, she just stood there in awe of the bride.

Our little family of four

Reese and Emmy…crazy that I babysat this kiddo when she was Reese’s age (and younger)

It was loaded!

It was SUCH a gorgeous night…Alabama was slightly tempting for me to move to when it gave us this picture perfect night

Gramps and his number 1 girl!

I happened to catch them being silly

dancing fool!

Halloween….

Captain Jack and CindiCinderlla

Brynn’s photo session…which didn’t go well, I’m not a professional

Trying to take the same pic we have of Reese….just need her to quit cryingThis was how it was most of the time

her favorite face to make Can youtell which oneis Reese?

This week we had a bit of a rough morning when we found that our sweet cat Fatty had died. Fatty was born in our driveway shortly after we moved in and I adopted him as our own. It only took two years of me feeding him before he trusted me enough to let me pet him. After that he was in love, would rub up on my legs every time I was outside. He was there to greet me anytime I came home and if I went out at night he would sit in the front waiting for me to come home before he would curl up in the bushes to go to sleep. Fatty was buried in the yard in a spot where he would often sit to wait for me to come home.

Fatty (on the right) sunbathing in the gutters last year

October!!!

2011-10-15T21:04:00.001-05:00

Brynn getting some tummy time

Ready to head out to Stroller Strides!

Thurman likes to hang out near the baby. When she cries, if I am not in the room, he either barks or stands right next to her until I get in there. He’s very sweet!

Still singing!

How we roll at our house…Reese has to be with Brynn ALL the timeBath time!

Once again Reese never lets Brynn leave her sightBrynn in her duck towelReese…it’s hard to tell them apart

Brynn waiting to get dressed for bed

Long story short Reese wasn’t tired when she went to bed. She had some chapstick in her room which she informed us she ate. Yes ate! A quick call to poison control and we determined it was non toxic. Here is a visual relief of how much she ate. There is NEVER a dull momentSleepy baby Reese not sure what she should do with a screaming babyReese’s birthday party with Ryan’s parents!

Someone is now a month old!

I had to add this because it was cute

Playtime alone (while big sister is at school)

Reese got her 4 year old shots. To say she was suffering after the fact was an understatement. She was knocked out but slept like this because her legs hurt too bad to put them on the sofa.Reese’s “let me see” facehappy babyplayingThe Nap Nanny…our new favorite friend.

Reese got some fun decorations on her arm when she went to the Elec Coop Member dinner the other night with Ryan.

Sisterly love before bed

In case you want an update of what is going on in our house…sleep, feed Brynn, eat, feed Brynn, Stroller Strides, home, feed Brynn, eat, play with Reese, feed Brynn….you get the picture?!?!?

4 years old!!!

2011-10-02T12:30:00.001-05:00

Her new boots and overall dress from MiMi and Grampy Reese’s gift from BrynnDon’t Break the Ice and Tinkerbell Tattoos

She loves her ColorWonder coloring bookReese has been begging for a microphone and she got what she asked for.

Watch out Lady Gaga!! Reese means business and she knows how to put on a good show.

Singing High School Musical

Reese picked out her own Dora cake, and then a small cake for her “4” candleBrynn deep in thought. Probably has something to do with her 4 year old sister screaming into a microphone and being stuck with the dumb parents who thought a microphone was a good idea with a baby in the house.

Brynn photo update

2011-10-02T12:16:00.001-05:00

Brynn’s first bath

Reese was so excited to watch the bathing process

Dad and his girls Gig’Em. We took this photo when we were still beating OSU…which didn’t last much past halftime

update

2011-09-25T18:29:00.002-05:00

I will post some new pictures tonight or tomorrow...In the meantime I will inform you of what we have been doing in the words of Reese.

"The baby eats, poops and pees" as she so gracefully put in in Church when asked if her baby sister was a good baby.

At this point to say that all I do is feed the baby is an understatement. That must be why she gained 10 oz in 6 days (between Dr. appointments). According to the web the average is 4-7 oz a week. She's in the early stages of her training to be a competitive eater.

I will pass the torch of my moniker "Bad Girl Bading" onto Brynn.

Brynn

2011-09-13T14:08:00.001-05:00

Showing off her new Halloween pjs

Giving Brynn her lunchPicture taken by Reese

Accidents happen????

2011-09-06T17:03:00.002-05:00

Sometimes accidents happen. An example: I might have used Ryan’s Kindle once and it froze up on me. I had to look online on how to reboot it before I got it to work again. This was hard for Ryan to understand. He got so upset with me because I “ broke his Kindle” and it never breaks when he uses it…etc. I got the “how come when you use it, it breaks” speech and boy was he mad. He can’t comprehend that sometimes crap happens and that is life.

Yesterday it became very clear that I am not the only one in the house who “accidentally” breaks things and even though I was upset by what happened, I was very glad that it was a lesson for Ryan that sometimes accidents do happen and it’s no one’s fault. Hopefully he’ll remember this next time I happen to break something.

I don’t’ know if you all have heard of the “push present” however it is a gift that one gives to his wife after she “pushes” your new child into the world. I got a very nice necklace with Reese. With new baby I guess you could say I am getting something a bit more practical…..I just got a rear car window as a push present, I’m just not exactly sure this is what I wanted…

How does one shatter a back window you ask….You should ask Ryan and his weed eater…because my car was INNOCENTLY sitting in the garage when my sweet husband was mowing the lawn like he has down countless times before.

As I sat inside trying to escape the 100+ degree temps outside I was asked by Ryan to please come to the garage and look at something. Based on the tone in his voice my initial thought was that there was a dead pet of ours lying in the driveway….this is what I encountered when I walked outside…and NO my rear window does not roll down…

Next time he mows the garage door will be closed for obvious reasons.

First day of school

2011-09-06T16:47:00.001-05:00

Reese started Mother’s Day Out again last week. Here are a few shots of her before I dropped her off. She was MORE than ready to go back to school (and so was I)Strike a pose!

What we’ve been up to…

2011-08-27T22:48:00.001-05:00

Aside from getting ready for a baby to arrive, we’ve been trying to avoid the heat that has taken over Texas. It’s a bit ridiculous if you ask me. I didn’t mind it so much at the beginning of the summer but I can say now I am officially over the heat.

We’ve painted the baby room, entertained guests (Mom, Dad, Emily, and Leslie), gone to the beach, played with friends, and we’re still teaching Stroller Strides.

a couple weeks ago…it’s MUCH bigger now

Watching TVPlaying ball…doesn’t everyone play in a dress and princess high heels? Ryan says she has a hell of an arm

She said she was getting married

Me and my sisterhelping paint “baby sister’s” room

rolling…or as Reese says “wolling”

in true Reese fashion…she was running away from home. Ryan had to go past the neighbors house to bring her back. Anytime she gets in trouble she packs her stuff and attempts to leave. Then we remind her she’ll never meet her baby sister, she then cries that she’s stay and vows to never leave again…

her attire when she runs away from home. Anytime she comes out of her room with the scarf and hat we know we’re in for the “I just have to leave” speech

3 girls and 2 dogs…PASSED OUT

Reese teaching Aliana some ab workouts

Fishing at our friend Jack’s house

the fish I caught…as in Sara, who can not even cast the line correctly but managed to hook a fish within 5 seconds of the worm being in the water kissing said fishthought it was a cute pic…

and now we just sit and wait and beg this baby to arrive sooner than later, because even with a Sept. 18th due date…I am DONE being pregnant, it’s just too damn hot!

I will post pictures of the baby’s room sometime this week, if I can get myself off our sofa long enough to sit at the computer.

Beach fun (twice in one week)

2011-07-28T09:45:00.001-05:00

We’ve had a busy month in July, from swimming at the pool almost everyday, to hitting the beach a few times and of course dance class, Stroller Strides and the usual daily grind.

Reese and I have also been purging the house of crap to make room for “new baby”. She’s been very helpful in getting things organized, put into the donation pile etc. It’s more than I can say for Ryan who has still continued to find anyway possible to avoid throwing out any of this worthless, I mean worldly possessions. You never know how many stacks of 2008 rules handbooks you need to referee football in 2011. While Reese and I purge, he finds places to relocate other items to avoid having to get rid of his things.

Mimi, Grampy and Cousin Nicole (from Belgium) came for a visit last week and we hit the beach one morning. We also got the treat of having Dairy Queen Blizzards both nights they were here. Nothing cools down a fat pregnant lady like a nice cold ice cream. At this point in the heat I would be content on eating nothing but ice cream but I don’t buy it on purpose because I’m big enough without the help of Blue Bell. See exhibit A:

Exhibit A

Pictures from the beach

Getting smashed in the waves with Grampy

Saying HI Singing Reese enjoying the 85 plus water temps…it’s awesome

On Saturday we went to the beach with Ryan and met some friends of ours and their son. Jack and Reese are very friendly and anytime they are together they have a blast. They also fight like brother and sister and regularly wrestle each other like they are in the WWF. Ryan had never seen the wrestling matches and was shocked at how crazy they are together. Jack’s mom Tanya brought along a TON of sand toys and two boogie boards. Reese had never boogie boarded before but it’s clear we have a natural on our hands. She strapped the ankle strap on, and road in wave after wave without falling off or getting tired at all. She would ride in one, and just turn her head to see when the next one was coming. We’re buying her a board next time we go to the beach because she was enjoying it so much.

click on them to make them bigger

riding in the wave checking when the next one is coming

We hope we only have one more long month of extreme heat to deal with…at least the time I have of being pregnant in the summer is almost done. It’s brutal (as I sit under the ceiling fan to type this, while the tower fan is blasting cold air directly at me as well, all while the a/c is running).

Summertime!

2011-07-14T12:35:00.001-05:00

We took Reese to the circus in June. Sadly she was not impressed.Having fun at intermissionIn Kingwood there is a new cupcake store..here’s part of the pound of icing off the cupcake Reese chose to eat. She skipped the actual cake part of the cupcake.

Swimming to Nana

Ready to dive for Mickeys. We always dove for Mickey Mouse toys at the bottom of the pool. Reese is using the same ones we did when we lived in Suffern.

Getting them off the bottom

Showing she found them

Grandma and ReeseNana and ReeseDaddy learning how to apply clip on earrings.

Nana let Reese play in all her jewelry so she had a BLAST playing with the necklaces and clip on earrings. She would announce herself coming in the room and sing and dance like she was on TV Fashion Show!Changing her look

Getting bigger!

Strike a pose!

Staying overnight with Aunt Leslie!

2011-07-03T15:02:00.001-05:00

Ryan and I attended a wedding in Houston for his college room mate and thought it would be fun for Reese to spend the night with Leslie and Sean downtown. She had a blast…and when it was time for Leslie to leave after bringing Reese back to us, Reese was crying how she “loved Leslie so much”. They went to the Aquarium, swam on Leslie’s roof (in the roof pool) walked all over Houston and had all kinds of other fun.

Dancing in the Condo after we dropped her off

At the Aquarium

Ferris Wheel

CarouselLighthouse Dive…Reese asked to go on this ride all on her own..she wasn’t big enough but the ride operator let her on anyway. Leslie and Sean figured she would be terrified once it dropped from the top of the lighthouse but she loved it so much she went on it twice!Hurricane Wind tunnel waiting for the train roof top swimming on Sunday morning!

Here is a video of Reese on the Lighthouse Dive!

Cupcakes and Rainbows

2011-06-23T07:28:00.001-05:00

I finally uploaded some pictures we took on the camera this morning and figured it was time to entertain you all with two posts in less than a week. I know I’m really living on the edge these days.

25 weeks pregnant (this picture was taken about 3 weeks ago)

She needed a picture taken of just her

Reese started ballet two weeks ago so we have been dancing a lot at home. Here she is practicing ballet spins

Still working on spinsDoesn’t Thurman look great in his Princess night gown?

It was Ryan’s birthday yesterday so Reese and I baked some cupcakes. We made dark chocolate cupcakes with a Reese’s peanut butter cup inside, vanilla frosting and sprinkles, which Reese did all by herself. She insisted that she wear her chef’s hat while cooking.

She is always posing for the camera!

Sampling her work!After singing Happy Birthday she finished it off with a ballet spin! She made him blow out the candles and sang before we even ate dinner.

Reese recently watched the Sandlot for the first time and has fallen in love with the movie. Last week at Stroller Strides she found a baseball in the park while we were working out at and brought it home. She was so excited to play ball with her Dad. She even had him write “Babe Ruth” on the ball, so she could have her own ball just like Smalls in the movie. Last night was their first practice.

Reese however thinks the object of the game is to throw the ball as high into the air as you can.

After baseball we headed to the driveway to hang up Ryan’s new fancy VERY easy to read rain gauge. We just so happened to have rain yesterday and the evening was topped off with this wonderful rainbow!

and as always Reese told me she had to “pose like a model” with the rainbow. We have our hands full.

A trip to Dad’s field and more

2011-06-18T13:40:00.001-05:00

As stated before it seems that I have not taken our camera out of the bag lately, mostly due to the fact that we’re in or near water most afternoons and because I have been taking advantage of my IPhone camera more often. Here are some pictures from the last few days.

This is how Thurman watches America’s Funniest Home Videos. I know hardly anyone watches this show anymore but Reese and I still love it. As you can see the dog does too. This happens at least once each time we watch the show.

Reese watching Selena Gomez’s music video on the laptop. She’s a star from the Disney Channel and Ramona and Beezus (a movie Reese likes) and she has a hit song right now. Reese LOVES it…Yesterday Selena was on Good Morning America. I taped her performance and naturally it’s been sung to and danced to at least 15 times since yesterday.

Reese breastfeeding her baby…I am not making this up. She sat down, but the doll inside the sling and told me she was breastfeeding her baby.

Wishing Grampy a Happy 60th Birthday on Thursday.

Reese got my Iphone…this was what she took pictures of…

Another picture by Reese. She took about 15 of the Church pew last time we were in Church. At least she was being quiet.

Today we went to see Ryan working in the sorghum fields. I figured this would be a good time for Reese to go and see what he does all day. She asks a lot of questions when we pass fields on the highway, thinking they are all Ryan’s fields, which is why I wanted her to see his up close and personal. She had a blast…mostly because we rode around in the Ranger while we were out there. But she also liked running through the sorghum as well.

Driving in the Ranger

Waving at the camera

Walking through the fields

Checking out the height differences

Standing in the SUPER tall sweet sorghum

Pretending to drive the tractor in the barn.

We’ll have to take her back when they harvest so she can ride in the tractor as well.

We’re off to the pool again. Reese made friends with the super sweet lifeguard Allison, who is kind enough to watch her when she jumps off the diving board while she hangs out on the lifesaving float to catch her. Reese loves going off the diving board and knows how to swim to the side, I just don’t think she can do both without taking a breath first..and that she needs something to hold on to. Ryan is usually on diving board duty but Allison lets her when she gets done with her shift. I guess Allison would rather sit on the float and catch Reese than deal with pulling out my tired pregnant butt from the pool after I doggie paddle to catch Reese when she goes off over and over and over again.

Sorry...,

2011-06-15T06:57:00.002-05:00

My lack of posting any new pictures is not because I don't have time, it's that I have a lack of pictures. It seems once the summer rolls around we are out and about so much that I either forget to take the camera or the fun that we're having is in or near water so I don't want to mess up the big ole expensive camera. I am generally the lone parent at the pool when we go so I can't leave Reese in the water alone to take pictures for you all to see. This weekend it might be possible for Ryan to be the one supervising the swimming fun and I can take some action shots.

We have been busy, first there was swim lessons, then swimming at our neighborhood pool(almost every afternoon), hitting the two locals splash parks to play in the water with friends, Reese started ballet and lots of late afternoon naps (which mostly are due from playing so hard at the pool).

I will try to get some pictures taken this week and weekend to post on here for your viewing pleasure.

My Mexican Senorita

2011-06-01T20:36:00.001-05:00

Leslie and I went to the Corpus Christi Trade Center…a little sketchy but we did find this super cute dress/shirt.

Reese even dressed herself this morning paring the top with her denim skirt, coordinating Crocs and a cute little headband that accented the purple threads in her dress.

Middle of May Update

2011-05-22T08:02:00.001-05:00

Reese finished out her last week of school. She sang “Jesus Loves Me” with her class and all the other classes preformed a song as well. She’s ready for swim lessons to start Monday, and then she’s going to take dance class this summer as well. Soon our days will be filled with afternoons by the pool. Reese was really excited because Ryan was finally able to come to a program at her school.

Friday, Stacey came to visit. She thankfully agreed last minute to come run a leg on our Stroller Strides Relay Marathon team. We had some injured people in the last few days before the race and Stacey was kind enough to come down and run for us. She looked really great in her Stroller Strides “Fit Moms Rock” team tank.

Some of the team members from the Stroller Strides teams we hadStacey and I after the race. I ran leg one, Stacey was leg six (I had 3.9 miles and she had 4.9) I wore a “Baby on Board” sign on my back…I imagine there were lots of people mad when I would pass them up while running.

Stacey ran an impressive 8:30 min mile in the extreme heat, and I ran an impressive 11 min mile in the early more thick humidity. I’d say both our times were pretty damn impressive.

Reese REALLY wanted to run in the race with us…I told her when she gets a little older she can (shockingly LOTS of kids run a leg of the race)

*Note pardon my Medusa like hair..it was windy, hot and REALLY humid

Disney On Ice

2011-05-13T14:48:00.001-05:00

To say she was tired would be a slight under statement. This poor kid fell asleep while Ryan and I ate dinner one night. We came into the living room to see her sleeping like this.

Reese told us that Baby Ty had to come so he could see the characters.Totally mesmerizedFour girls..some of our friends from Stroller Strides. Reese, Frannie, Ella and Emma

Ryan came along this year for Disney on Ice and even he had a good time. For someone who was such a non believer before we went to Disney World he’s a sucker for the Mouse now. We both got a little laugh while we were there thinking about the fact that we’ll have two girls obsessed with Disney Princesses in a few years. The good thing is I am totally fine with the Disney obsession…and I think without fully admitting it, Ryan is too. He’s getting much closer to knowing the difference between all the Princesses.

The funniest part is that they played a song from the movie Enchanted (which is a big hit in our house) and Ryan even knew the words to the song…I am proud of him!

And the winner is....

2011-05-03T19:53:00.001-05:00

Just a quick post to let you all know we're having another GIRL!!!!

Easter Galore

2011-04-26T07:27:00.001-05:00

Friday before Stroller Strides

We headed to Geronimo for Easter and my first order of the trip was to help Reese dye eggs. I opted to put her in her swim suit mostly because I thought if she made a big mess with the dye that we could just hose her off outside. She stayed remarkably clean.

Pardon my attire….I had finished a short 3.5 mile run prior to beginning the egg dying process.

You could put stickers on the egg to make your own funny faces, I knew she’d love that

Hunting eggs at Omie and Opie’s house

Reese and Kylie Note: I seriously just happened to be taking pictures at the exact moment that she took the biggest spill ever. If you look closely you can see the eggs are in mid air.

Headed to her basket of loot

Thurman never one to miss out on the action (or be in pictures)

Egg Hunt at Oma and Opa’sOpening their Easter goodies at the Schubert’s (Atlee, Reese and Emery)Emery gets a head start being the youngest

Waiting their turn Oma and Opa Schubert watching from the porch

3 super cute kids

My favorite number one girl EVER!

Swimming in April ?!?!?!

2011-04-15T19:23:00.001-05:00

Yes you read that correctly, we’ve busted out the baby pool and Reese has gotten in. It was pretty warm last weekend (in the 90’s) so we figured it was time to send Reese into the pool to keep her occupied. Plus I can sit in the shade on the fabulous chairs we have (thanks Mom and Dad) and relax while Reese goes nuts in the water. It’s a great system if you think about it.

Before the pool we tried out the crazy sprinkles

How can you not love this face?

Relaxing This is for sure my kid, she knows how to relax in the pool and attempt to get a tan.

Can you see the gap in her swimsuit? Yes it’s a little too big, but don’t worry we got her some new ones that should arrive in the mail shortly. I had to take the picture because I thought it was so funny.

Barnyard Birthday Party

2011-04-07T16:12:00.001-05:00

Reese got invited to her friend Frannie’s 2nd birthday party last weekend and the petting zoo was there. It was the same petting zoo that was at her school the week before so she was happy to see all the animals again.

As you can see they also had face painting. At first she was a little nervous (it was her first time) but when she saw the finished project she was thrilled.

Flower Nervous about holding the chicken

We’ve been playing outside a LOT lately, mostly because in about another week or so it won’t be nice enough to play outside anymore. Today was a bit on the warm side, but earlier this week the tropical storm force winds cooled you off nicely (and kept the mosquitos away as an added bonus). Hopefully the wind will stick around for a little longer, because once summer rolls in the wind usually rolls out.

Maybe this weekend we’ll head to the beach for a little pre summer fun…that is if the federal gov’t doesn’t shut down…because then the National Seashore (where we go to the beach) will be shut down too. BOO!

Pictures galore!

2011-03-24T12:43:00.001-05:00

Obviously our bluebonnets are in full bloom right now so we headed out with the fancy new camera to take pictures. I am still not an award winning photographer by any means but I get a few more nice shots with the faster camera.

Loving the breezeDad, this one is for you…Reese in bluebonnets with the Texas flag behind her.

Such a sweet picture (in my opinion

After asking for a while, Ryan finally agreed to re-do Reese’s bathroom. He told me it would be a “two day” project but alas he’s still in the process of doing it…but it’s getting there. As you can see Reese aided in the painting. Right after she was done rolling she placed her hand on the wall…good thing it’s water based paint. She was nice enough not to touch anything when she left the bathroom and headed to the living room to show me her “handy” work.

Since her bathroom is out of commission Reese has been bathing in our bathroom. This is not an issue other than now her bath products are more in “reach” so she dumped half a shampoo bottle into the tub yesterday afternoon. I figured I might as well use it to make bubbles so we turned on the jets. Reese said it was the BEST bath she ever had. She was in there for over an hour.

The start Having a BLAST Bubbles everywhere

Bubble Monster ReeseAs you can see the bubbles began taking over

I have fond memories of taking bubble baths in Nana’s pink bath tub when I was Reese’s age…I should get the picture of me to put next to the pics of Reese from her pink bathtub bubble experience.

Tonight should be a power struggle trying to get her to take a regular bath.

Spring Fun

2011-03-18T08:30:00.003-05:00

Spring is in the air…for the next three weeks. Then it will be too hot for anyone to enjoy the outdoors (unless you’re a 3 year old who doesn’t care about the heat). I kid about spring, maybe it will be here for a month.

Leslie came for a visit last weekend and brought Reese this AWESOME tent. It’s been a load of fun since it arrived. Leslie babysat for us while we went on a “date night”. Leslie and Reese enjoyed their date as well. Pizza and a movie!

We also had our annual Family Day at Stroller Strides. This is where the Dads show up to work out and see how hard the Moms work everyday. Here’s Reese helping Ryan with his sit ups.

Cinderella

The opossum formally known as “ours”…he has been trapped and released in the wild. We’re hoping to be free of all varmints in our yard at this point. Leslie, Reese and Ryan went out at 6:30 a.m. to release this little bugger while I was out running. It was in the trap in the bed of Ryan’s truck and Reese was in the cab in her car seat. The entire time they were driving she was saying “The opossum is biting me” over and over again. She’s nuts.

Today Reese is spending the day with Oma and Opa while they camp at Lake Mathis. I hope she enjoys herself today because my butt won’t be caught dead spending the night in the wilderness. They have bugs and opossums out there.

Big news!

2011-03-08T20:27:00.001-06:00

Reese wanted everyone to read her shirt.

In case you’re missing the message she’s going to be a BIG SISTER (in September)

We headed to the Botanical Gardens and attempted to see butterflies. This is about as good as it got.

Reese’s artwork. They are spiders

We headed to Kingwood last weekend. This is us sitting in Denny’s. Why Denny’s? Oh because on the way to Houston we had a flat tire…first we waited for a tow truck to come change the tire (no I don’t know how to do it myself and I don’t really care that I don’t know how…get over it Ryan) Then we drove 35 miles on the donut to the nearest real city and found a Discount Tire..and then waited 1.5 hours for our tire to be replaced (for free thanks to their 3 year certificate program)…Denny’s was an attempt to kill time

This would mean we left our house at 11:30 a.m. for a 4 hour trip and got to Kingwood 7 hours later at 6:30 p.m. It made for a VERY long day.

After we got to Kingwood Reese discovered the joy of Kobi’s new dog bed.

Ryan finally let me hire a cleaning lady…Snow White…sadly she does a poor job dusting, and a much better job singing and running around the house with the duster.

Reese now has Leslie hand me down Snow White dress and is happy to report that ANY time she is home, she is wearing it. She wakes up and puts it on.

Dresses, Sesame Street Live and a Snake Killer

2011-02-24T20:24:00.001-06:00

Reese is super into posing for the camera these days. She told Ryan to take her picture. These are just a few of the poses she came up with. I find it hilarious that she thought rolling around on the floor was an acceptable pose.

We went to see Sesame Street Live again this year. The show was called Elmo’s Healthy Heroes. It was all about things you should do to be healthy, eat veggies, take naps, brush your teeth, etc. She really enjoyed the show and told Ryan all about it when he got home. If only I could get her to listen to Elmo about taking naps, I would be on easy street.

Reese got this dress from her Nana for Valentine’s Day. She LOVES wearing it. So much in fact that she asks to put it on as soon as she gets home from Stroller Strides or school. She wore it yesterday as it was her outfit of choice. You should have seen her at Subway in her dress with her purse on her shoulder while we were out to eat. Too bad she didn’t pay.

If you look closely you’ll see the snake carcass in the grass. The neighbor’s dog was barking non stop for 20 minutes, I finally couldn’t take it anymore and went out to investigate. Turns out he smelled out the snake on our side of the fence and was barking at it. The snake saw me right away and hissed and lunged at me. I knew I needed to take matter into my own hands if I wanted the dog to quit barking. I called Ryan to consult about the issue before I committed murder. After putting on my leopard print rain boots (as to protect my legs from potential snake bites) I took out the shovel. I beat it once on the head with the shovel but that only angered the snake even more. Then it lunged and hissed again. I showed the snake what happens when you hiss at a Mama…I bludgeoned it to the point of no return. I knew I got it’s head off the first time, but it was still moving, so I kept chopping. So much that it’s head in now buried from my massive shovel attack. I left it in the grass for Ryan to check out when he got home. It’s non-venomous snake but either way, snakes are not welcome at my house. At least now I know I can be a snake killer if need be, although I hope I don’t have to again.

I am now trying to convince Ryan that since I completed a man’s job by killing the snake, he should complete a woman’s “job” and clean the house. I’ll let you know how that goes.

New camera

2011-02-21T07:58:00.001-06:00

We got our new camera this last week so I have been working on taking some new fancy pictures…I say that half joking because I still don’t think I am taking such great pictures at this point but maybe one day I will learn how.

At the new park in our neighborhood

Teaching Stroller Strides in the backyard. If you are wondering, she dressed herself.

She also knows the importance of putting the brake on when parking your stroller

More to come this week as we head to the Botanical Gardens, Sesame Street Live and more outdoor fun now that it’s spring. Yes as in it’s going to be in the high 70’s all week. Hello Spring…in February. It’s just not natural

Videos

2011-02-08T20:59:00.001-06:00

As promised I have made two 4 minute videos to share with the world. Obviously as titled the first is from our Disney trip. Please note the last clip…Reese got to do the Hot Dog dance with Mickey and Minnie. Every morning she watches the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and at the end of every episode they do the Hot Dog Dance. She LOVED dancing with Mickey and Minnie…super great that they the exact moves from the show…but hey that’s Disney for you. (You can also see Ryan get punked by Rosetta while visiting the fairies in Pixie Hollow, where Tinkerbell and her friends live)

This next video is Reese reading me her Fancy Nancy book the other night. She really has the whole thing down pat. The night before I taped her she had the entire thing…this night she was a little off her game.

Who is in charge??

2011-02-08T07:50:00.001-06:00

I am beginning to wonder who is in charge at this house.

As soon as we decide what camera to get I might be able to order it and take pictures. Secondly I know I have LOTS of videos to post…however having a certain 3 year old at home makes it difficult to get anything done on the computer…so I am hoping that since Ryan is back from his massive 2 week long trip I can sit down tonight and get some things uploaded on here.

*this was with Ryan’s camera phone..we have resorted to this since we’re still sans camera.

Disney World

2011-01-19T20:23:00.001-06:00

Disney World

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Disney!

2011-01-19T07:17:00.002-06:00

I know I owe everyone a post with lots of pictures, I am hoping to get them all uploaded today and then I will work my fingers to the bone to get them all uploaded and ready for your viewing pleasure.
I will say that Ryan saw the magic. He was not a believer before, but as soon as he saw Reese standing in front of Snow White in total awe he was a changed man. I knew it would happen. I love to be right. Reese loved every minute of it, was so incredibly well behaved and was stunned meeting all her favorite characters. She told Pocahontas that she loves watching her movie. Pocahontas asked her what her favorite part was and Reese came right back with "When you sing Just Around the Riverbend"...the trip was GREAT. I promise pictures later today/tonight.

Show Us Your Single Men

2011-01-06T19:53:00.001-06:00

In honor of Kelly’s Korner blog doing a showcase of single guys I am posting a blog about our two single friends Tim and Jason.

Tim Engler

Tim is a 7th grade science teacher in Uvalde, Texas. He has been my husband’s best friend since before they were able to talk and he’s one of the most all around great guys I have ever met. Tim will give you the shirt off his back if you needed it because he’s just that kind of guy. He likes basketball, Aggie football, Cowboys football and of course we can’t leave out Texas Country. Tim is an avid 9 pin bowler (it’s a small town Texas thing) and he loves spending time with friends. Prior to moving to Uvalde this last August he lived near San Marcos, TX and was also a youth leader at his Church. He really enjoys kids and hopes someday to have some of his own. Tim is a lot of fun to be around, always has a smile on his face and can make you smile by simply turning on his charm. He’s an uncle to two very sweet girls and enjoys being around his family. Tim is the God father of Reese and has always been a big part of her life. Tim is such a nice guy, gives his all to a relationship and is looking for someone to share his time with. If you’re interested in Tim leave a comment and I will work on setting you up. Tim’s a genuine sweetheart.

Jason Henderson

Jason is an awesome friend who I met through my husband as they were really great friends all through college. Jason has been such a great friend to me as well so I would love nothing more than to see Jason happy, settled down, and starting his life with the right lady. Jason lives in Beamount, Texas at this time and he works as the Assistant Athletic Director for a Division I University. By all accounts you could say Jason would spend all the time he has watching sports because he LOVES sports. Jason is a Texas Aggie and will never miss keeping up with the Aggie baseball team. Jason is a tenderhearted man who is looking for the right girl to spend time with. He is the kind of guy who will do anything for the girl he is in a relationship and he is always willing to bend over backwards to make sure you are happy. Jason is a fun guy to be around and can make you laugh. He is ready to put himself out there, so if you’re interested in Jason leave a comment and I will set it all in motion.

End of 2010

2011-01-01T09:04:00.001-06:00

We headed to Geronimo before Christmas, came home for Christmas and headed to Kingwood after Christmas. It was a lot of driving but it was nice to see our families, even though they were both short visits. Now we’re in full countdown to Disney mode, as I write this we’re down to 12 days. I can’t believe that it’s almost here. I have one excited little girl on my hands.

Here’s a recap of the highlights from our Christmas week

Making cinnamon rolls from scratch

rolling them up

finished product. I have to admit they were really awesome.

While in Geronimo, Reese made these reindeer sandwiches with her Oma

Reese the red nosed reindeer

In total awe of the Christmas Story. At least she appreciates the classics

So excited!

Princess Reese

All worn out from opening presents and driving her car

We made it to Kingwood! As you can see the tree landed on the Wicked Witch of the East

Aunt Leslie made her the dress. Impressive huh?

She was riding the see saw with Meems and had some great air between her butt and the seat. It was awesome!

Using the cool chop sticks Leslie got her for Christmas

Reese thought she needed to redecorate…this is where a picture used to hang

This was the picture after Reese took it off the wall while playing in her room..She was very lucky that she did not get hurt with her latest antics. As you can imagine all the other pictures have been removed from her wall. It’s no wonder I can never get anything done, she was alone for 2 minutes before this happened.

Hopefully I will get the pictures of New Year’s Eve uploaded later today. We went to a friend’s house and played one of those games where you dance along with the dude on the video game. I have great shots of Ryan in all his white-ness breaking it down in a dance battle. I cried I was laughing so hard.

Santa came to town

2010-12-25T10:16:00.002-06:00

I hope everyone had a great Christmas. Santa arrived in Corpus and brought Reese "what she wanted" so she's driving around in her Princess car. We are working on teaching her the rules of the road. Look out residents of Wood River subdivision.

Christmas Pageant

2010-12-18T08:03:00.001-06:00

We had Reese’s Christmas Pageant at school this week and she practiced really hard for the past few weeks. She has been singing all the songs in the car, while playing with her toys and even had all the hand motions down.

Ryan’s Mom came for the afternoon to see Reese perform her hits. Well no matter how well she knew those songs, once she hit the stage she barely sang a note. I think she was stunned by the amount of people that were watching her. She’s very much an independent girl, in the fact that she only will sing when she’s good and ready. If you ask her to sing the songs she will tell you no. Then low and behold about ten minutes later when no one is really paying attention to her she’ll bust them out…it’s all on her own time. In fact yesterday Ryan and I were chatting in the front seat while we were driving, and she was minding her own business in the back. All of a sudden here comes the entire program, every song with all the hand motions to go with it. She knew we were not paying attention so she did it all on her own. We just laughed (I had showed him the video) at how she really did know the entire thing but didn’t show her skills during the show. She’s obviously saving her talents for us.

At the program she did well, didn’t cry while she was on stage, sang a few words of a couple songs and then for the last song she really threw herself into the hand motions. She was a lamb and wore the cutest little thing in her head. I have made her wear it at home several times because I love it so much.

Here are some pics from the big pageant.

She is the second lamb in from the left

At the end we took her pic all alone. I LOVE these lamb ears.

I will work on posting some video as well but right now I have got to get her dressed, fed, and ready to go to Stroller Strides.

December already???

2010-12-15T07:51:00.001-06:00

It’s hard to believe that it’s already the middle of December. Time flies when you’re having fun. You’re probably wondering why I am posting a blog…I know you’re thinking this dope left her camera on the bumper and it’s MIA.

There are MANY reasons that my parents are cool. We all know that. My Mom exhibited her coolness once again by sending us her camera to borrow for the time being. We have Reese’s Christmas pageant at school this week so I needed to document this for the blog. She slapped that little camera in a box on Saturday and by Monday I had it in my mailbox. She’s awesome.

We’ve had a busy week so far and more fun to come. Here’s recap.

super excited kiddo on my hands

silly smiles

I let her do all the decorating after I assembled it

she highlighted my wall. I bet you know how thrilled I was when I discovered this little gem

Pocahontas figurines and the reindeer from Santa’s sleigh…they play very nicely together…better then the English settlers ever did

She was scratching her legs but for about 20 minutes she sang songs to them while they were all lined up

nothing to report

2010-12-12T21:55:00.002-06:00

I have nothing to report other than I'm a dumba$$! No pictures to post for the same reason. Yes it's true, I lost our camera...So that is why you can continue looking at the same old boring pictures from Thanksgiving. However we are kindly being sent my Mom's camera while we decide which one to buy...and so sometime this week, when the nice Mail Lady comes to my home and rings my doorbell I will have a camera on hand. With that camera I will take pictures of Reese at her school Christmas Pageant to post for the world to see. Until then remember...NEVER set your camera on the bumper of your car (even if you are in the driveway playing with your daughter when you do it) because you just might forget it's there until after your husband gets back from Home Depot. :(

Thanksgiving etc.

2010-12-04T15:28:00.001-06:00

I’m not going to lie, I have clearly slacked off on keeping up with the blog. I am going to take more pictures now that we have lots of fun things going on for the holidays.

Clearly turning 30 has slowed me down. I hate to see what happens when I am 40.

We went to College Station the weekend of the Nebraska game. WHOOP! Even though I was in the hotel room for the game with a sleeping Reese, it was still a super exciting win. I also got to have a great 30th birthday breakfast with the Mom, Dad, Ryan, Reese, Stacey and her friend.

After a couple days back in Corpus to teach Stroller Strides we headed to Geronimo to visit Ryan’s family. I made the mistake of telling Reese she could play the clarinet when she gets to high school. I also told her I had one at home she could play….thus the weekend of “I wanna play your clarinet”. I showed her how it worked and she even cracked a few ear piercing notes. Luckily she has time to learn before she’s in band.

Mom, Dad, Chips, Leslie and Stacey came to visit Corpus for the rest of the weekend. We all had a great time. So glad everyone got to come hang out.

We hit the King Ranch for the guided bus tour of the cattle working side of the Ranch. It was a lot of fun. Our tour guides’ name was Dusk…yes we asked, her sister was Dawn.

In his defense it was warm on the bus…Reese fell asleep too! Dancing with Sister

This girls The family Me and my Reesie…it was COLD

me and the hubs Leslie the tour guide….things you can do when let on the bus early because you are part of the handicapped party. Thanks Chips…without you this pic would not have been possible.

wearing her flower girl dress and dancing with Leslie

Dancing..she LOVES wearing her Princess dress

Waiting for food at Whataburger

Just finished blowing out 30 candles

my super fancy boots (thanks Mom and Dad)

The girls went to Hobby Lobby and left the boys in charge….needless to say they got her to nap by forcing her to watch football. Notice she fell asleep in disgust plugging her ears with her fingers.

Special thanks to Stacey Ryan’s facebook page for allowing me to copy and use the pictures she took over Thanksgiving. I have some on my computer however since I am on the new laptop (perks of owning your own business) I am using her pictures to update the blog first.

Aggies are BACK!

2010-11-15T08:38:00.000-06:00

Happy Halloween!

2010-11-05T15:16:00.010-05:00

Yes I know...I am a slacker. It's November 5th and I am only now posting Halloween pictures. Sorry for the delay.
This is what happens when you don't nap anymore but are so tired at 6 p.m. that you can't even stay awake until dinner is ready.

My friend Natasha had some mold issues in her air conditioning system, and her repair man suggested using a at home mold kit to test the levels of the mold as they were cleaning out their ducts. Long story short she told me about this and I was just POSITIVE that we had mold in the house. So I forced Ryan to buy the two kits at Home Depot and do the test for ourselves. So we put one kit outside and then placed one inside. After 3 days you compared the mold growth in both and if the inside kit was the same or worse as the outside...well then you had a mold problem. Since it's common in Corpus to have mold...I just knew we had it. Sadly I was proven wrong...as you can see by the amount of mold in our outside kit compared to the inside kit. G-R-O-S-S!!! It is nasty to see how much mold is outside. Thankfully our house doesn't have any. Woo Hoo. I know Ryan is sleeping better at night knowing that.

Our neighbor Mrs. Ferguson brought Reese a swirly lollipop the day before Halloween and as you can see Reese had a field day with it.

And now for Halloween!

So excited to go trick or treating. Check out this sweet trick or treating pail I won in a silent auction. Never mind that I hovered over the sign up sheet and threatened my close friends not to outbid me. Hopefully they knew I was kidding. Ryan says when I outbid people I should raise the price up more than a dollar...but I am the world's cheapest human being and a dollar...well that is how I roll.

Miska, Mouska, Minne Mouse!

My friend Tanya who made this costume all on her own. Nicely played Tanya. Next year if I wanna hang with the big girls I am going to have to clearly step up my game.

Tanya's son Jack and Reese (they go to school together and attend Stroller Strides together. Reese loves Jack!) While trick or treating Reese made sure Jack was always there at the door with her to get candy. She is such a big helper.

Carving my pumpkin

Reese with all the pumpkins. Sadly hers was stolen off our porch on Halloween night...while we were handing out candy. Some kids are punks. Yes Reese is in her pj's. Taking after Uncle Chips we stayed in our Pj's all day Sunday...only getting dressed to go trick or treating.

Now you can see that my pumpkin was haunted house with bats flying in the air. Appropriate given the long summers with bats in our house when we lived in NY

Reese had a BLAST on Halloween. I am not sure what she enjoyed more, trick or treating or handing out candy to the older kids when they came by.

Fall arrived! Reese sporting her new outfit that I bought at Gymboree. Don't get excited it was on sale, which is the only reason she has an outfit from Gymboree!

She insisted on taking pictures next to the pumpkins, despite Halloween being over! Kudos to Ryan who left the pumpkins on the carpet. Super fun when I went to move them and his literally fell apart in my hands and turned into liquid ALL at the same time. Ryan rocks!

Pocahontas!

2010-10-29T14:17:00.002-05:00

At school yesterday they had a Fall Festival and the kiddos got to wear their costumes. Reese plans on being Minnie Mouse for Halloween but she insisted on wearing Pocahontas to school. So after wearing Minnie all morning we made a quick change 10 minutes before school and transformed into Disney's Indian Princess Pocahontas. They had games, hay rides, spooky stories etc. Here is a picture my friend Paula took of Reese in action. (I was unable to volunteer as I was teaching Stroller Strides while the party was going on, AND given Reese's desire to cry whenever I leave school in the morning it's probably better I wasn't there)
Playing the fishing game with her friend from class, Lily. They are the only two girls in class with 6 boys, so they get along very well.

As soon as she puts the costume on she runs through the house screaming "Just around the river bend", which is a song from the movie. My Mom was awesome and found the costume on e-bay. It will fit her to the next few years so that is even better. She even had the boots to complete the outfit.

Halloween pics coming up next week!

Run Forest Run!

2010-10-18T14:22:00.006-05:00

Oct. 9, 2010 our friend Valarie Herbst got married in Houston, so we went up to stay with my family for the weekend and attend the wedding. Reese got to dress up and see the princess walk down the aisle. She's going to be in a wedding next month so we played up the princess thing and now all she can talk about is walking down the aisle at the wedding just like princess Valarie did.
This was outside the reception so needless to say we HAD to put her on top

There was an ice cream bar instead of a groom's cake. Can you tell who was thrilled to eat all the ice cream with M&M's that she could?

So happy with her Grampy

Over the past weekend my friend Rebecca (who I purchased Stroller Strides from) had to move out of her house but wasn't able to head up to Dallas to get to her new house yet...so they moved in with us. Her boys are 4 and 2 and they also have a 120 pound lab. Bailey and Thurman had a great time together, and so did the kids. Riley, Reese and Coen have seen each other everyday for the past 2.5 years so they enjoy each other's company. This pic is from when they were "fighting crime" as you can see Pocahontas was there to aid Batman and Superman.

This weekend I also ran my half marathon. I was super impressed with how well I ran. I finished in 2 hours and 21 min which was a few minutes faster than I thought I would. I did very well (even if I say so myself) and can now check that off my bucket list of things do to before I am 30. I ran alongside my friends husband for a few miles and saw my friend and Stroller Strides member Lisa as well. Did I mention that it was "the highest Half in Texas" I ran over the Harbor Bridge TWICE. The bridge is 243 ft high!!!!!

Hey look...I made the newspaper (their website). I thought this was a race photographer and it turned out to be a photographer from the newspaper! Props to my friend Morgan Smith who is running next to me in the photo (his wife Danielle ran the 10K) This was coming off the bridge on the first half. As you can see I made sure to smile

Yup ran up and over this as well...after the bridge you still had to cross the causeway which was up and over again! (two times)

Did I mentioned I ran over this TWICE???

Waving to my pit crew, I mean fan club. My awesome hubby and kiddo got up and watched me run. They were great at timing me, and were able to stop and see me in three different locations AND the finish line. My friend/neighbor/Aggie/Stroller Stride member Julie and her hubby Kris Havelka (and their kiddos) also got up to watch me and were there to cheer me on at the finish line.

Saying HI to Reese, who was jumping up and down cheering for "Mommy"

Off I go to complete the last 6 miles

Coming up on my second pit crew wave spot. They also passed me twice driving the next location so I got to wave at them on the causeway and going on the bridge.

Home stretch and shockingly still feeling good

About to cross (note my official timing chip time was 2:21:49). So like I said...I did it!

3rd Birthday!

2010-10-08T22:02:00.006-05:00

Last week was an eventful week. Reese finally started LOVING school, I became a business owner and Reese turned 3!
In case you all hadn't heard I purchased Stroller Strides from my boss as she is moving to Dallas. I signed all my contracts Sept. 29th but I officially took over on October 1st. When I first started going to SS, I never thought I would teach class yet after a 1.5 years it's been awesome. I never thought in a million years I would ever be a business owner but I guess that was in the cards too. I worked pretty hard last month setting everything up and this was my first full week of teaching as the owner. I am super excited and looking forward to continue working with/for Stroller Strides. I know for sure without having joined SS when we moved to Corpus that I'm pretty sure I would have lost my mind, so I am super excited to be able to continue it for other moms since it was such a positive experience for me. Without my friends from SS I would be a lost.
Even harder to believe that my big girl is now 3! Where has the time gone?? It seems like yesterday (in some aspects) that Leslie was keeping my hair looking nice in the delivery so that I wouldn't look too rough in any pictures. After all isn't that what sisters are for? We had her first ever birthday party (aside from dinners and small parties with our families) and I am so glad that we waited until she was 3 to have one. She knew exactly what was going on and was SO beyond thrilled that she was having a party. She talked about it all last week, and told everyone we saw throughout the week that she was having a party. It was so cool to see her excited for it. I brought sugar cookies to school the day before her birthday, she had crazy celebrations on her birthday and the party was the day after. To say she is one lucky girl is an understatement. I love this kid to pieces...or as she would say "you love me too much".
These pics are not in any order at all so bear with me.
Reese and Stacey in the "jumpy jumpy"

Herbst family pic (with a Jump, Ryan and a few Badings in the mix)

Party goers playing on the playground. We had the party at the park across the street from our house which was so nice, and all our neighbors were so sweet and thought it was great that we were having the party at the park (which is generally just used by teenagers to get crazy on the weekends)

Waiting to climb in

Reese and her friend Emma

Having fun with Uncle Sean

Eating her cupcake

Waiting to blow out her candle. I love how excited she is.

Uncle Sean again, he's so much fun

We had a candy themed party so I was "that mother" who gave all the kids massive amounts of sweets and then sent them home. There was a lollipop tree (made by yours truly), chocolate dipped pretzels rolled in sprinkles (made by me), cookies dipped in chocolate, M&M's, Pretzel M&M, Reese's pieces (DUH), cupcakes, gummy bears and peanuts. It should be noted that I gave up sweets/desserts on Aug 1st and did not have a single morsel of this food. I even hand dipped all the cookies and pretzels and didn't even manage to steal a lick of chocolate.

Cupcakes and their toppers

Our family (Reese not happy to be taking pics and not jumping)

Having fun!

Pre-party

Reese enjoying a little light reading privately in her room after opening all her present from Meems, Grampy, Leslie, Sean and Stacey

A doll house!!!

So excited about her Aggie jersey

She stayed up late the night of her birthday so she could be awake when my parents, Leslie and Stacey arrived. As you can tell she was thrilled to show them her birthday present from us. She LOVED her Minnie Mouse outfit. She put it on as soon as she got it in the morning and watched Mickey Mouse clubhouse with it on, she kept telling Mickey..."Hi Mickey, it's me Minnie"

I can't wait for her to wear this in Disney World when she meets Minnie for the first time. 3 months and counting.

Next Sunday I run my half marathon...pray that I don't die :)

Digging for gold!

2010-10-07T13:34:00.001-05:00

The firemen came to school this week to talk about fire safety with the kids. As you can see from this picture Reese had more pressing issues to deal with.

Happy 3rd Birthday!!!

2010-10-01T06:43:00.005-05:00

Happy Birthday Reese! Time flies when you're having fun, and with a few minor exceptions we've had nothing but fun these last few years (minor exceptions being the times you puked on me). You're a great kid, super smart and just a little wacky...but that's good because to be part of our family you need to be a little wacky. I think you mostly get that from me and your Aunt Leslie (heavy on the Leslie part). We love you no matter what! Just like I tell you everyday...You Rock!

African Safari

2010-09-26T16:06:00.015-05:00

Nana on the last night of her visit.

Reese wanted me to take of picture of her posing exactly like this. We had to take this picture before she agreed to take any other pictures.

A casualty of all the rain. I saw this driving home from dropping Nana off at the airport.

Can you tell she's pooped? She fell asleep while she was using her foot to balance the back of her chair on the ground. She slept like this for about 1 hour.

We headed to San Antonio yesterday to attend Atlee's birthday. Atlee is the son of Ryan's cousin Jason, and Atlee is exactly 5 days older than Reese. The party was at Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch, so we got to see the exotic animals, feed the goats in the petting zoo and take a safari tour and feed the animals from our car. It was a ton of fun, and something I had never done either.

Reese and Garrett. This girl can find a new friend in an instant. He's a cute and very funny kid.

The gang who attended the birthday party, birthday boy Atlee standing up in the tan shirt.

Reese admiring the pretty giraffes

I really enjoyed watching these sweet giraffes.

I see baby goats in our future. If I am helping with this whole 4H/FFA thing when Reese gets older, we're going the goat route. I know I'll be the one doing most of the leg work with raising the animal, and despite my desire to have a calf of our own, I have no desire to clean up cow crap for an entire year...thus the fact that I am hoping for a goat. Smaller animal with MUCH smaller poop.

Having so much fun feeding the babies. She was not fond of feeding the adults because when she ran out of food they would try and eat her clothes. Screaming would ensue.

My not so baby anymore feeding the baby goat

These are scary. I opted not to feed them. I told Ryan if they pecked his hand off I was not going to feel bad for him. Thankfully he has still hands both intact.

The only shot of me all day. Self portrait

I love me some zebra

Up close and personal...he/she and I bonded, you can see it in the eyes

eating out of our hands

I snapped this picture right before this sweet giant put his/her head in my car. I enjoyed it, Reese on the other hand...I think she peed her pants a little. I had a great time petting the zebra, lovely creatures these things. Sadly I don't know that a zebra would be a good addition to the family, however I wish they could be.

feeding these things...I'm thinking mountain goats

And my all time favorite...the donkey. I want one so badly...I think it would make a nice touch to the backyard. I think I heard him say "Hey lady, take me home with you". I told Ryan we could both benefit from adding this handsome beast to our family, he'd have MUCH less grass to mow and I would have a pet donkey. In the words of my mother...when people would ask me "a donkey" I can reply with "my ass". I'm mature :)

Hurricane Karl...and rain!

2010-09-19T11:12:00.006-05:00

What a week...we had a visitor this week (more on that later), Reese got a stomach bug (AGAIN) and we hit the beach one afternoon! Reese had a rough week at school. Cried the entire time she was there (both days) because she "missed her Mom". It's nice to be loved, I just wish she wouldn't cry the entire time she was at school. 5 hours people...We're hoping for a better week this week. Crazy thing is the first two weeks of school were fine..week three is when it sank in that this is more permanent than just a couple days of fun.
Reese shopping for groceries in her pj's.

with "her" Coach purse (she wishes)

We had a visitor this week. Nana braved the trek to my house, I say that loosely as it's a 30 min flight, and has been spending the week here. We hit the beach and hung out a lot at home. Sadly Reese got the stomach bug again so after 12+ hours of puking (on and off) we headed to the doctor (Nana in tow) and spent 2 hours there (mostly because it was busy). She got a shot that helped stop the vomiting and she slept from 4 p.m. until 6 the next morning. She needed it and yesterday she was on her way to being on the mend. In classic Bading family behavior...my husband was working a football game so Mommy once again got to take the vomit on all by herself. He was nice enough to sleep in Reese's room and leave her to me in our bedroom for the night as well. Thanks Ryan... :) Proof that being a stay at home Mom is a 24/7 job...with NO breaks.

After Reese was starting to feel better we started getting some rain which is a result of Hurricane Karl. He went well south of us but all that tropical moisture in the air made a MESS of rain for us. We had 4.5 inches of rain yesterday and since this morning we've had another 3 (and it's STILL pouring) Ryan is out of town for business so it's my job to deal with the rain gauge...otherwise I could care less about it.

Thank goodness we invested our money into that fabulous back patio this summer because without the handy work of our friends at Duran Concrete we would have had water in our house for sure. I am sooo glad we got that done. In fact our backyard is dealing with the onslaught of water quite nicely. Best money I ever spent.

Our street on the other hand had a hard time dealing with the rain...as the rain slows down the water recedes but once it starts back up it gets bad again.

Standing on the sidewalk in front of my house..water water everywhere

Ankle deep on the street (right off the curb) I am sure it's deeper in the middle.

Lake Clear Fork Dr.

This is the park across the street from my casa. Usually there is a two step wooden ledge around the entire thing. Right now you can barely see it.

The drainage ditch one house down from ours...notice the rapids

The park...all under water.

And this is how Reese passed her time inside. I went to the garage to get something out of my car. I think I was outside for 2.5 seconds. I came back in to be greeted by Reese...announcing that she used crayon....she in fact got the GIANT highlighter out of our desk.

So impressed with her make-up skills.

School is in Session!

2010-08-31T13:23:00.008-05:00

We've had a busy few weeks...maybe one day things will slow down, after Reese goes to college.
My Mom and Dad came to Corpus two weeks ago and we hit the beach all weekend. They were kind enough to drive down this awesome desk. It was my Pop-Pop's for many years. He got it when he was a fireman at the Reliance Engine & Hose Co #1 in Port Chester, NY. My dad did an awesome job refinishing the wood and Ryan and I are thrilled to have the antique in the house. It's one hell of a desk, and I can't even begin to tell you how long/deep the drawers are. It's also nice to have things that have meaning. We also have a lot of my Grandpa and Grandma's furniture, they spread the wealth as well.
After Mom and Dad were here, Reese and I headed up to Kingwood 4 days later to visit the family. My Aunt and Uncle were in from Belgium and our cousin Stacey is moving to Texas to work as a PT at MD Anderson. Aside from a visit with the family, I also ran in a 10K with my friends Julie and Ashley from Corpus Christi. I plan on running the half with them as well so this was a nice preview run to get us really amped up. Despite the odds we completed the race and did really well. I finished in the top half of my age group and also well overall. Reese had a 24 bug Friday, so she threw up all night Thursday and had a fever all day Friday. Ashley and Julie had lost sleep due to their sweet babies as well. Like I said despite the odds and chaos we did it. Now the countdown to 13.1 miles is really on.

We are women...here us roar! (post race) It was awesome to run in Kingwood because my Nana, Dad and Reese were able to come watch me run. It kept me motivated knowing I had a cheering section mid way through the race.

Reese in her Groucho Marx glasses and her pocketbook from Nana. Sorry this is not flipped, I sent it to the computer from my cell phone...

Ready to head to school!

She picked out her outfit. She said yesterday that she wanted to wear the Hawaiian dress that Grampy got her with her sneakers. She knows what she wants!

Ryan stayed home so he could bring her to school as well.

Sending my girl off to school

Summer HEAT!

2010-08-13T14:37:00.006-05:00

And the award for "Craziest Outfit of the Week" goes to Reese Bading. This would be my tankini bathing suit top worn backwards....
and a bikini top worn backwards underneath the tankini.....

Sometimes it's not even worth questioning. Much like wearing a belt with your nightgown, to dress up your look before asking to go to the park at 7 a.m.

I hate running. Esp. when it's about 90+ degrees with 100% humidity. However, I am running. On a regular basis, before the sun is even up(most mornings). I am training for a half marathon, call it as you may...I suppose it's on my bucket list of things to do before I am 30. I decided to run this before I remembered how hot it is in Corpus in the summer. Now that I am in the thick of it I am second guessing myself daily. The race isn't until October but the training...yeah it's HOT. I am not "racing" as much as looking to finish alive. I think it is best for someone to send the meat wagon out around mile 9 to look for my dead body. I am pretty confident that after I run this 1/2 marathon that will be the end of my racing career. I might stick to 5K's here and there, maybe the occasional 10K but 13.1 miles...for the birds.

It just looks like I'm running this Fun Run alone...don't be fooled, there were others. I came in second place in my age division, we won't discuss how many others were also in my age division. because it's not that important. Ryan and Reese came out to watch me run (hence the action shot) and to cheer me on. That being said, whoever said running in South Texas in the summer was a smart idea was nuts. Despite this fun run being at 7:30 a.m. it was still Africa Hot, and the humidity was awesome, as in awesomely horrific. We ran the Calallen Girls Cross Country team's training loop. This was a good reminder of why I didn't run cross country in high school.

Miracles Happen....as you can see in this picture. It is possible for me to be photographed with my child and for it to be a nice picture. Let the record show it takes a special occasion to get me showered and dressed (in something other than work out clothes) in the middle of the day. This picture is from my dear friend Monica's baby shower. I am so excited to have her join the ranks of Mommyhood with the rest of us. We are sitting on pins and needles waiting to hear when Clayton will be making his grand entrance into the world.

***Monica it should be noted that Reese was THRILLED that you sent the Thank You card to her. Since getting it she opens it once a day and recites what it says and then stashes it into her belongings for the next day.

Yet another one liner from Reese. The day after the baby shower we all met with some friends in College Station to eat lunch at Double Dave's. Reese was sitting next to our friend Wayland (Monica's husband) and in the middle of the meal she needed to use the potty. So as we're leaving the table she points to Wayland and says "Hey, Wayland...don't eat my pizza". I was cracking up.

We've been hitting the pool, and gearing up for school. That's right in 2.5 weeks Reese heads off to Mother's Day out and I have 5 glorious hours (two days a week) to do whatever I want to. I am sure "doing whatever I want to" will involve cleaning the house, and running errands but we'll both be enjoying those 10 hours a week.

She's says the silliest things!

2010-08-09T21:12:00.000-05:00

No pictures this update. I will try and do some later this week. I do however, have a funny one liner from Reese.

While eating dinner last night, (Reese had finished and was playing in her kitchen) she turned around quickly, looked at Ryan and I and said "Ladies and Gentlemen, I have to make pee pee."

She's nuts!