Christmas lights and Santa

A couple of random things about Reese E Cup: 

A common conversation we have if I get out of her sight:

Reese: mommy, mommy, (louder and more annoyed) mommmmmmmmyyyyyyyy!

Me: (walk back to where she is) Yes. Can I help you?

Reese: Ummmmmmm...(long pause while she thinks of something to say) uh doin? (which means what are you doing?) 

Y'all. She has to THINK of something to say. She doesn't even need me. It just disturbs her to the core that I might be getting something accomplished. 

She says "bitty bitty" instead of little bitty. 

If you ask her what her name is she will tell you "Rees-ie" or "Reese-ie Cup." It's hilarious.

If I am in the phone she automatically assumes, "it Stefff." 

A few weeks ago Adam started counting to 3 before he was going to spank her. He said "one" and she said "two, fwee." We couldn't help but laugh. 

I have a pink t-shirt that D.D. and Big Daddy brought me from a trip they went on this summer. Since the first time she ever saw it Reese says, "it Jolie's. I wear it." She then takes all her clothes off and wears the shirt. I have no idea why she thinks it's Jolie's. 

She will pitch a fit if her shoes or diaper are "too tiggghhttt." Which, before my momma comments, let me go ahead and say she gets that directly from me. As a kid I hated for my shoes to be tied too tight. I also would not wear certain shirts because the seams were too big, and I wore my underwear inside out because of the seams. I was a quirky, strange child, and I am going to pay for it all via Reese E Cup (much to my parents delight). 

We had an appointment with an ENT at Children's Hospital Monday, and she is having her tonsils taken out December 27th( if she doesn't get sick that week. If that happens they will not put them to sleep, so it will be rescheduled for the next week). She barely opened her mouth and they said, "oh yeah those have to come out." They tried to pressure me into doing it the 20th. If you do the math that's 5 days before Christmas. Thanks, but no thanks. I prefer that she not be a grouch with a sore throat on Jesus's birthday. Since she is only 2 this will result in an overnight stay in the hospital. Let's have a moment of silence for all parties involved in keeping that little monster cooped up in a hospital room for 24 hours. And let's have another moment of silence for her momma because, y'all, they are putting my baby to sleep. Gasp. It's a routine surgery until it's your baby having it done then it turns into a major ordeal. I'll probably need to be medicated. 

When we got home from her appointment Fiona had left The Polar Express under our tree. We have watched it at least twice a day since then. 

 And this is how she likes to watch it.

Saturday we had breakfast with the big man. 

Please hear me when I say that we don't make her go see him. She wants to go LOOK at him. Of course she doesn't want to sit in his lap. That part I force in order to get an entertaining picture. I hope to have her crying Santa pictures as my mantel Christmas decor for years to come.

We met up with her daycare friends while we were there.

Saturday night we took her to see the lights and ride the train at Noccalula Falls. Thankfully we got there an hour before they opened because by 5:00 when they let us in the end of the line was nowhere to be found. 

And oh how her faces lights up when she sees a Christmas light display.

She loves her some Santa, but only from a distance. (For the record this makes the 3rd time she has seen him this year. He shows up everywhere we go!)

She wrote Santa a letter, and mailed it.

Since it has been so cold at night this week Autie has been sleeping in the laundry room. If it was up to Reese she would be an inside dog.

One of my coworkers told me that Santa sits outside of a house in Oxford in his sleigh every night. I doubted it since it has been so cold this week. Sure enough when we pulled up in the yard out came Santa with a bag full of toys and some candy. (For any of you who care- when you leave Target don't turn left at the flashing light like we come back home. Keep going on McIntosh road (somebody please confirm or deny that that is the name of the road??) and the house is on the right. You can't miss it. He has HUGE reindeer in his yard and lots of lights.)

 She wouldn't sit in his lap, but we got in his sleigh to make our picture.

And that makes the 4th time she has seen him:) She cried all the way home because she wanted to go back and see him again. 

Thanks to Pinterest {again}

After we found out we were pregnant I got out a bag to hold all the stuff we were accumulating for baby #2 (congratulation cards, paper work from the doctor, the note I made for Reese to give her daddy notifying him she was going to be a big sister etc).

After the miscarriage we got so many sweet cards, and several people were even nice enough to bring meals to our house. We also had a sonogram picture from our first visit to the doctor at 8 weeks. Every day when cards came in the mail after the miscarriage I would leave them on the bar for Adam to read when he got home. I knew I wanted to keep all of the cards along with all the stuff already in the "keepsake" bag. I also knew that I absolutely did not want to put the sonogram picture into that bag that would eventually make its way to the drawer in our bedroom that holds all of the sentimental things we've acquired during our marriage. You know those things...the things you run across once in a blue moon when you clean out your drawers. The sonogram picture was not going to fall into that category.

I was browsing pins on Pinterest one day and I saw it. A pin that said, "what to do with all those sonogram pictures." Of course the pin was describing using the pictures as framed nursery decor once the baby arrived, but since that sadly wouldn't be the case for this baby I decided to modify it a little to hang in our room. So I started the search for the perfect printable verse and frames. After several days and a couple of trips to town looking for the frames, it all came together. 

This now hangs in our room. Although it is a baby we will not meet this side of Heaven, it's our baby just the same and is certainly not something we will ever forget. 

Salt Dough Ornaments

Pinterest, oh Pinterest. You make me do things I never thought I'd do. 

I have been seeing the salt dough ornaments on there since forever, and since Adam had a meeting at church tonight I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to work on that little project. 

My kitchen may never recover. But my girl? She had a blast.

 

The finished product is in the oven baking on 200 degrees for the next 2 hours which is about how long it should take me to clean up the mess. 

She tee teed in the potty twice at church, and has been wearing big girl Minnie Mouse panties all afternoon. There was only one accident and it was, unfortunately, during the ornament making. Due to the accident one ornament went on to hang on the big Christmas tree in the sky;)

I would like to say for the record that this shows exactly how much I've grown as an individual. The pre baby momma me would NEVER have allowed such a mess in her house. It's like a Christmas miracle;)

Clark W. is baaaack

Clark W. Griswold is back, and he has a protege. It's disturbing. By next year I fully expect her to be on the band wagon with him insisting on an all colored lights display, and a circle drive for onlookers to get the full experience. She followed around after him dragging his lights and begging to "hep ou" (help you).

She picked the snowman out last year and gave it to her daddy for Christmas. It has been a hit this year. Every time we drive up in the yard she tells us all about her snowman.  

While they strung the lights and (Adam) recited every line of Christmas Vacation these 2 begged for attention. They are never far away when we are outside.

You know what scared me about Autie (the little one) when I looked at this picture? Gasp. Does she look like me? Please say no. Why do I think she looks a little like me? I used to be her human until Reese came along and took Autie as her very own. She is the sweetest dog of all time, but don't tell Adam because he is a little more fond of the big dog.

Back to what's important. Her little face lights up every time she sees Christmas lights and/or Santa. We went to the parade last night and she was so excited about Santa and the horses.

She likes to give the snowman high five.

She found these antlers at Target and, of course, we came home with them.

The little bushes in the front are the start of the colored light takeover. He bought them while I wasn't looking.

I had a little talk with Santa and decided that we wouldn't be getting an elf from his workshop this year. I didn't think Reese would care, and I was afraid I couldn't pull off all the cute-sy stuff those little critters do. I was dead wrong about Reese. Not so much about myself. Fiona arrived last week, but she is under strict orders that there will be no funny business while I'm sleeping. She is allowed to hide in different places every night, but she is not allowed, under any circumstances, to make a mess. Ever. Reese was excited because Fiona has earrings just like her.

Oh, and we also don't obey the "no touching or it takes their magic away" rule. She holds Fiona all the time. She even insist on taking her to daycare every morning. Fiona stays in her bag and watches her all day.

One morning Fiona was making oatmeal which, according to Reese, is the most exciting thing she has done. She has also been known to hide in Reese's stocking, and get into the cookie jar.

As soon as I decide which one we are going to use Reese is going to see an ENT. Her tonsils are so big they almost touch, and she snores like a 400 pound man which causes her to stop breathing for several seconds at a time. We originally had an appointment tomorrow, but I heard some not so great things about the doctor so I'm waiting for another referral. When I made this picture she was sawing some major logs;)

Thanksgiving 2012

Blogger has been playing a cruel, cruel joke on me. Every time I try to upload a picture it gives me this evil little warning, "You have exceeded your photo capacity. Please click here to purchase more storage." Um...thanks blogger, but no thanks. I will not be purchasing your little $2.99 per month photo storage package.

Ok. I typed that yesterday when I still had a little spunk about me. Blogger, you win. I bought extra storage. BUT ONLY because this blog serves as my baby's baby book and it is vital that I continue our blogging relationship.

Then my brand new DSLR camera played an even more evil trick on me when I tried to transfer my Thanksgiving day pictures to my computer and it acts like there are no pictures on the card. Which I know for a fact is not true because I have spent the better part of the last 5 days reviewing them in awe of how adorable I think our girl looks in her chevron print dress. Anyway, I was afraid that my less than professional precious Thanksgiving memories were about to go right down the drain when the Best Buy people informed me that the new DSLRs aren't made to take the memory card out of the camera to transfer them. I am only supposed to use the USB cord to connect the camera straight up to my computer. Well, thank you for that little piece of advice Mr. Geek Squad. That would have been nice to know..oh...I don't know...while I was taking out that second mortgage to buy the camera! :)

I know it's hard to tell from the pictures, but Reese ADORES Jolie.

And this is just the way she likes her Santa Claus to be. Fake. Oh and for the record she ask Santa for a "wing" set (swing set), camera, and a "boo bus" (school bus). She also loves big bigs (big trucks) and choo choo trains. She's a very delicate, sophisticated little girl who has yet to mention a baby doll on her Christmas list;)

When we got to D.D.'s she got in a little Ring Around the Rosey with Jaycie and Brooklyn, but for reasons I don't completely understand the picture that I put here will not show up.

She loved on Big Daddy. Or maybe she was trying to get his attention, I don't remember.

She showed off her I'm a little tea pot skills. She sings the whole song in the, "pour me out" position.

Let me tell you who else she adores- her Uncle G. Let me tell you why she adores him- he will do ANYTHING she wants to do. How ever many times she wants to do it. Right now she constantly wants him to "wing" her. We try to tell her that Big Daddy is too old for this type of physical exercise, but she insist that he helps Uncle G "wing" her.

Santa Claus

Wednesday before Thanksgiving we took Reese to Bass Pro Shop to see Santa. She told me all day that she did not want to sit in his lap. She wasn't lying. When we got there she was mostly excited about the carousal, but she falsely gave the impression that she wanted to see Santa. The closer she got to him the tighter she held on to her Daddy.

Personally, I wanted Adam to make her sit in his lap while I got a picture of her screaming. Since he is a big push over he wouldn't make her sit with him.

Here she is last year... I love this picture. Love it.

She rode the carousal a grand total of 4 times before we pried her from the store. Thankfully Bass Pro was nice enough to let us see Santa, ride the carousal, and make a craft all for free. (Which goes completely against what I preach to the kids at school every. single. day. Nothing in life is free. Well Bass Pro you have proven me wrong. We spent exactly $0 that night, but rest assured we have, in the past, done our part to keep that company in business.)

And her personal favorite, the carousal.

Oh how this face makes my life complete!

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. Isaiah 55: 8

Sadly, the Friday after Thanksgiving was truly a black Friday for us. I knew something was going wrong  late Thursday night, and by Friday afternoon around 2 we had a miscarriage. 

We are sad beyond words, but also at peace because we know that God has a far greater plan than we can ever understand.

 Kip Moore sings a song called Hey Pretty Girl and in the song he says, "Life's a long and winding ride. Better have the right one by your side." I can tell you that because of this I love Adam  more than I ever have. He stepped up to the plate Friday and took care of me when I physically could not take care of myself. Not that I ever doubted that he would do that, but when actually faced with a situation you realize how far people will actually go for you. 

 We have one precious, healthy baby and that is far more than a lot of people get. She is more precious to us than ever. 

We hear of people having miscarriages everyday, but until it happens to you it's hard to really grasp. I would have been somewhat expecting this at 6 or 8 weeks, but at 14 weeks it took me completely off guard.  I thought we were in the clear, but this is just another reminder that we are not in control. 

Thank you all for your phone calls, text, and emails. We have a great family, and a wonderful group of friends. 

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."

Jeremiah 1:5 

Long weekend and preggo update

Sunday morning I walked into the bathroom and Adam said, "Momma, we need one of those hicky-do's." That is code for ponytail holder. I love to see men raising daughters;) Particularly this pair. 

 I splurged a couple weeks ago and bought myself a Nikon DSLR. I had buyers remorse for a second until I started reading blogs about how to use the more technical aspects of it. Plus a big thanks to Abby Butler for giving my a personal lesson. I've got a lot to learn, but I love it!

Friday night and Saturday morning we cleaned out Reese's closet and moved her toys into her room from the playroom. The following is a conversation we had:
Reese: Uh doin Momma? (What are you doing Momma)
Me: Cleaning out your closet to make room for your baby brother or sister.
Reese: (very loudly and very annoyed)  Uggggh.

There is a common consensus among those who know her best that she is going to struggle with this adjustment.

She found an old photo album from when Adam and I were dating. She kept asking in a really confused voice, "That Momma? That Daddy?" I know baby. Momma used to not look so tired all the time;) Motherhood ages a girl.

 She found this little ensemble and insisted on wearing it.

She wears panties a lot at daycare, and when she comes home she often takes her diaper off by herself. She does pretty good until she gets busy and forgets to go to the potty. If I'm not in there with her she will come find me and say, "Momma com ere" while she motions with her hands for me to follow her. Then she proudly shows me that she tee teed in the potty. I always tell her how proud I am,and clap, and go on and on about it. Yesterday I forgot to tell her I was proud and she said, "You poud Momma?" We are just letting the potty training come as it will. I am too tired to try and force that on her, but she is ready. I just can't imagine the first time we leave the house with her in panties. I think I need one of these car seat protectors I saw on Pinterest.

 She found my flat iron in the floor and started "pixin" her hair. Disclaimer to the grandparents: It was NOT plugged in. There was a 0% chance she could burn herself so PeePaw save your speech. (Not that PeePaw would have any clue as to how one would log on to the world wide web and find our blog, but I bet MeeMaw will show him.)

 Sunday she took us for a ride on the golf cart.

 Monday afternoon I decided we would put up her tree. She was so amazed by the lights.

 And this is how amazed she was when I introduced her to Mickey's First Christmas.

Pregnancy Update: I know now why 2nd, 3rd, 4th children say there aren't as many pictures etc of them as there are the 1st baby. BECAUSE MOMMA IS TIRED! I really wanted to do weekly pictures with Reese holding the chalkboard, but as it turns out Reese was napping when we made this picture. And it looks like the weekly picture updates may turn into monthly updates...or trimester updates.

For about 2 weeks now Reese has said that she is having a "baby bruter." It has really caused me to question my earlier prediction that it's a girl. To me the strangest thing about a 2nd pregnancy is how fast it goes. With Reese I knew exactly how many weeks, day, minutes, and seconds pregnant I was. This time the weeks fly by! We will find out at our next appointment what it is. I am hoping to do some kind of gender reveal party...We'll see if I can make it happen. If we know before Christmas (which we should) I would love for the ultrasound lady to seal it up in an envelope and us open it Christmas morning, but Adam shot me down on that one. He said he couldn't wait that long, but wouldn't that be the ultimate Christmas present!

Anyway, here we are at 12 weeks.