Jackson Hole 2012

Let me tell you about our FAVORITE place to go. Jackson Hole, Wyoming. We honeymooned there because y'all there is no prettier place (in my humble opinion, of course). So earlier this year we started planning a trip for the summer and of course we decided to go back. There was a two and a half second discussion as to whether Reese would be going and that was to put to rest simply because I could not/would not leave her for 5 nights. I've got attachment issues, I know. 

This was Reese's first flight and I was as nervous as a long tail cat in a room full of rocking chairs. For good measure we gave her just a tiny bit of Bendryl. When the plane took off from Atlanta she was already sleeping. She slept almost 2 hours which left one more hour until we landed in Denver. Our second flight into Jackson Hole was about an hour and a half. We got her a cup of "pice" (ice) and she ate it and looked at a magazine during that flight. Our trip was starting out on a better foot than I could have ever expected.

 I will try to limit play by play comments as I show you our pictures. 

Without a doubt my favorite moment of the trip was when we landed in Jackson Hole and Adam left us waiting on the curb while he went to get the rental car. Y'all I have never laughed so hard as when he pulled up in this sexy little hatch back Nissan Versa. I know the people standing around me wondered about my mental stability because I was wheezing I was laughing so hard. If you drive a Versa please hear me when I say this- while we were loading our bags I wondered why in the world anybody would drive one of these. Because they get 40 miles to the gallon that's why. I would have to check with Adam, but I think it is safe to say that we didn't spend $100 in gas during the entire trip. 

My baby has on a jacket in most of the pictures. You know why? Because their 70 degrees and our 70 degrees are not the same. As much as I love all things southern their zero humidity made me never want to return to the south. 

This is the outside of our cabin which I would like to say (for memories sake) had no air conditioner  Adam almost lost it when he started looking for the thermometer (because he is the king of having it feel like it is about to snow inside our house) and there was only a heat button. We soon realized we didn't need the air on anway all we had to do was crack the window and plenty of cool crisp mountain air blew right threw.

Reese had to shade her face from the sun;) We laugh so hard every time she does this.

We stopped by one of the raging rivers to throw rocks. Since the snow was melting off the mountains the rivers really were raging.

 These are the elk antler arches that are on each corner of the square in town. The antlers are picked up from the Elk Refuge that is outside of town.

 This is known as the "Sleeping Indian"- can you see it?? It looks like an indian laying on it's back. I made this picture the first day we were there.

 It's called Jackson Hole for a reason. It is in a hole with mountains all around.

 Everywhere you turn it looks something like this.

 There was wildlife a plenty.

 This is a moose and her calf which was nursing but you wouldn't know that because I obviously forgot how to use the camera and it focused on the trees instead of the moose.

This picture was made at Jenny Lake.  

I would like to make note that this trip was before the paci was thrown from the window. When we started planning the trip we agreed that she could have it until we got back home. I know all the people on our flights were thankful we had a stopper in her mouth. Anyway, when I started looking back through our pictures she has the paci in her mouth in EVERY picture! She must have it was about to be taken away:)

 The day after we arrived we went shopping and bought the sweatshirts that you will see in every picture because we would have frozen without them. She also got these cowgirl boots that she just had to wear.

Oh wait, here is a picture without the paci.

Our cabin had a fire pit which we put to very good use every afternoon. They also provided all things needed for smores.

And she warmed her hands over the fire.

She spent a lot of time looking at our phones (and randomly calling people).

We spent Thursday in Yellowstone which was about 3 hours away. When we went on our honeymoon it snowed so hard while we were in Yellowstone that we almost got stuck there. This time the weather was much more pleasant. Good thing we were in a Trail Blazer during out honeymoon because I am sure had we been in the Versa we wouldn't have made it;)

This bear was walking along the road in the Teton National Park. 

At Old Faithful

A heard of buffalo on the side of the road.

And a huge moose crossing the river

We went back to Jackson Hole through Montana and Idaho which is about a 3 to 4 hour trip. I have never been so thankful when Reese fell asleep and slept for over 3 hours. Needless to say we did not wake her up and make pictures at each state line, but I made sure to make a picture as we drove past.

Friday we met up with Adam's friend, Tracie, that he met in St. Louis during training back in January and hiked a trail at Jenny Lake to this waterfall. 

Reese stopped to wash her face with the COLD water and she also threw one of her pacis in the water.

Saturday morning we drove through Moose Wilson Rd (which is similar to Cades Cove except was less crowded and so much prettier) and saw 2 bear cubs crossing the road. 

Then we made the decision that we are moving our letter to this church because we feel that we could praise Jesus in an all new way with this view.

We also made the trip educational by stopping at the museum. Actually we needed to use the restroom, but she LOVED it.

Then we took a ride in an old fashion stage coach.

And we ate. A lot. Here is Reese enjoying a lemon.

Remember the sleeping indian? Here he is on our last day after it had snowed. Yep- snowed in June.

Everytime we saw a buffalo Reese would say "moo moo"

This is where I would give anything to have better photography skills. This barn is on every post card in Jackson Hole, but because I have minimal camera knowledge and it was cloudy this was all I could get.

A local told us that when buffalo rub their head on things it means they are about to attack. Who knew?

And here we are as a couple of newlyweds a few years ago....(I am racing the clock because Reese is asleep so I do not have the time it would take it get this picture rotated. I tried everything including banging on the computer and screaming and it still wouldn't work. 

Father's Day (a month late)

For Father's Day this year I was fresh out of gift ideas. Or maybe I was just too lazy to go out and search high and low at Home Depot for the perfect gift, but thank goodness for besties because I facebooked Adam Harris and ask if Adam needed anything. He promptly replied that my Adam might not know it but he needed headphones for cutting grass and he was right. Adam loves them. And I was a big fan of them last week when I got out in the sweltering heat and cut the grass. Something about Luke Bryan singing in my ear while riding the lawn mower helped make it feel like I wasn't standing directly ON THE SUN.

This is my one and only picture of our little family on Father's Day. We were poolside and sweating profusely.

It cost me a small fortune but I made sure that these headphones arrived by Father's Day which required 2 day shipping. Those delivery people don't work cheap. 

And here's the father and his girl. 

She was this excited about spending Father's Day with her daddy. 

20 & 21 months

Because I have been so lazy  busy this summer I forgot to post her 20 month update and then when her 21 month birthday rolled around I just felt so behind and I let it slip past me again. So we are playing catch up. I actually typed her 20 month post but never got around to uploading pictures.

At 20 months old:


















I am amazed everyday at the things she knows. It hit me when I saw her putting my eye shadow on her eyelids with the same brush that I use that she is watching my every move. It is quiet scary.

She can say a lot of words, but my favorite words she can say are: cup (she really enunciates the 'p'), "Weeeese" (Reese), "Wuv wu" (love you)

She likes to get on our bed and point to the spot beside her and say "up hoo" which translates to up here. My favorite is when she starts going to her playroom and turns around yelling "mommy" or "daddy" and puts her hand out moving her fingers back and forth which means we are supposed to come with her. When we are in the car Adam usually is twirling my hair, but Reese does not like it at all. When she sees his hand in my hair she will shake her hand back and forth and say "no, no, no." After a few minutes Adam will ask her if he can play in my hair and sometimes she gives him permission, but most of the time she says no:)

She got her second haircut Sunday.(Because I'm off my A game and this post is over a month late this was like 8 Sunday's ago) Her hair doesn't grow longer- it grows out like a bush.

When she is about to get into trouble she will lean in to kiss or hug us. Speaking of trouble- I can spank her or get on to her and it's like she doesn't even hear me, but her Daddy?? He can look at her and she pokes her lip out and fights the ugly cry.

She LOVES watermelon, cantelop, and "mook" (milk). I have been thinking about what I am going to feed her for lunch during the summer and I would greatly appreciate any suggestions. Please refrain from things like country fried steak and pot pies. I have high ambitions of rest and relaxation this summer.

She loves her paci more everyday. Sadly it will be going on a permenant vacation in a few weeks.

I laugh so hard everytime she crosses her arms. Hilarious.

At 21 months:

Weight: 21 pounds 

Height: 31 inches 

Her claim to fame this month is losing the paci. It was so much easier than I had expected it to be. That is probably because I was expecting wailing and gnashing of teeth. I am still paranoid that she is going to find one hidden in her toy chest or under the couch and we will have to start all over. 

We bought big girl panties, but she is only interested in playing dress up with them. 

 She loves Autie!. As we speak we are outside and she is constantly trying to pick Autie up or ride her.

 This weekend we went to Anna Kate's birthday party and Reese loved jumping on her trampoline.

 Last night she wanted to wear her panties for real. 30 seconds after this picture she tee teed in the floor:)

Her newest words/sayings are: "I get it" (which is what she said when the phone rang last night) "I got you"(when she chases us) "cheeeeeessssseee" (she hold the phone, her monitor, and even the remote up trying to take pictures) "cactor" (tractor) and she loves "big bigs"(big trucks) if the dogs bark too loud or the air conditioner in the car is on too high she will put her finger over her lips and say"shhhh qiet"(quiet) if she wants the TV on she says "fee tee on" At this moment I can't think of anything else that she says.

Since school has been out she usually takes an hour and a half nap during the day. Some days it is at 11, other days if we go to the pool she doesn't nap until 3 or 4. On those days she doesn't go to bed until 10 or after. 

She has moved into size 4 diapers and mostly wears 12 month clothes. 

Random post and a sick baby

I feel like you should know that I typed most of this post on Adam's new iPad which can be blamed for any spelling/grammer errors. The fact that he stayed up until 10 PM getting acquainted with it should tell you how excited he is about this little gadget. Plus I had to run the mail lady down to get it yesterday. He squealed like a school girl when I sent him a picture of it. The girl likes it too. Personally it hasn't swept me off my feet yet, but it's still too early in our relationship to offically declare my feelings about it.

I got an email from my mother that simply said, "You need to update the blog." Well, yes ma'am. We have been busy and I don't exactly know why. We only have one kid and it's not like she is involved in any extra cirricular activities. So..I really don't know what we've been doing. Oh, yeah I do know. I've been sewing. And goodness gracious it brings out the worst in me. To date, I have monogrammed beach towels for everybody this side of the Mississippi.

Tuesday Clay graduated from 6th grade and I almost got emotional because all the babies in our family are growing up. And why? Why do they need to grow up? Growing up isn't all it's cracked up to be. Can I get an amen? All the work and bills and responsibility makes me wish I was back on the playground with my biggest decision of the day being which slide to go down first.

Adam's cousin Brooklyn also graduted from 6th grade. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture because I was wrangling Reese and trying to keep her quiet. And it was all going so well until she fell off the bleachers. Please allow me to publicly apologize to whoevers kid was recieving their diploma at that very moment and my baby stole their glory. I know for a fact that there were people sitting around us that wondered how in the world we still had custody of our own kid. She was out of control.

I am currently in deep thought and consideration over my classroom next year. I have big plans of new decorations but I can't decide exactly which decor direction I want to go. I have somewhere in the neighborhood of 82 projects in mind and realistically I am going to have to narrow it down some or my mother is going to kill me when I start showing her all the stuff I want her to help me with. I have my current classroom packed up and I just can't wait to hear Adam's tirade when I tell him that we will be moving my stuff as opposed to letting the moving people do it. I'm weird like that. I don't want strange people loading, unloaded and meandering through my things. I just hope I get my job back next year or Adam might lose it if he has to move my school stuff 3 years in a row.

Oh, and about our girl. She's sick. Mrs. Liz called yesterday and when I heard her voice my heart dropped because it was the first time she has had to call me. Reese woke up from her nap with a 101 fever. We went straight to the doctor where we got a potential diagnosis that I do not completely agree with. She has a fever with no other symptoms so the doctor mentioned hand mouth and foot disease. Doesn't that sound so bad? Why such a scary name? Anyway, she hadn't gotten the door closed before I was telling Adam that it was a misdiagnosis. She doesn't have a rash. Yet. Her BFF Addie had the fever virus last week and I am leaning heavily towards that being the real problem. And honestly I hope it is because doesn't the fever virus sound less tramatic than hand mouth and foot disease? (And by the way- I mentioned the fever virus to the nurse on the phone and she said she had never heard of that. WHAT?? We are currently shopping around for a new pediatrician and I feel confident that thanks to the nurse and her lack of knowledge that office is now marked off the list. Plus she tried to tell me there was no such thing as the fever virus. She vastly underestimated the hours I've spent googling various medical conditions. I'm virtually a walking WebMD.) And you know the best part? We are leaving for the beach today. Thankfully, she was better this morning because we almost had to call off our trip. (Plus they are only contagious when they have a fever and this morning her fever was gone.) I am so sorry to all of you daycare mommas whose baby was exposed yesterday. I seriously do not think it is hand mouth and foot- if that makes you feel any better. Adam said he isn't taking her to the doctor anymore. He is just going to bring her to me and save the $30 copay. Smart man;)

P.S. My people will still be at home so any potential intruders should know that PeePaw is a quirky little man who has been known to "sheriff around" at random hours of the night and day. He is armed and semi dangerous. Consider yourself warned. Plus we pay good money every month for a security system.

Birthday and Mother's Day

Friday was Adam's birthday so we celebrated just the way he wanted. At the mexican resturant in Auburn that we spent a many a day at during our college careers. I'm almost 100% sure he wanted to go there because it reminds him of the days he had absolutely no responsibility and could live on $20 a week. Good times. They ask if he wanted a shot of Tequila or fried icecream for his birthday. He chose the icecream, but when we got in the car and Reese started SCREAMING at the top of her lungs because we made her get in her carseat we all wished we had taken them up on the Tequila shot. If you missed Adam's birthday post from last year please read it here because every word still holds true today. 

You are looking into the face of a girl who loves cheese dip and salsa. Actually she just likes to dip her chip into something. Anything.

 My proudest moment of the evening came when I looked over and she had her dress up showing the world her belly button. Then she loudly declared that she had "tee teed."

 Saturday we went to Addison's birthday party. Here is a picture of the birthday girl and her momma trying to open gift. Of course, that's our daughter sitting on Addison's birthday gift trying to steal all the birthday glory.

Against all the odds we got a picture of all the babies at one time.

 Reese rode double on the roller coaster with everybody that was willing to ride with her. And even some that weren't willing.

 This was a kiss because Reese took Addison's paci and then Addison hit Reese because paci's are worth fighting for. Then they kissed and made up. I love that they are best friends at daycare. I refuse to think about the day they are in junior high and get into their first fight all because one of them made a new friend and didn't invite other one to play kick ball at P.E.. I'm sure it will all be very dramatic but for now they are just as sweet as can be and I want them to stay this way forever.

 Here is our attempt at getting our babies to all look at one time. I am estimating that it will be at least another 4 years before we can get them all to look and smile.

Allison and Jared had a bouncy house set up and this is pretty much how all of my pictures look- a blur of children. We almost had to go in and drag Reese out when it was time to go. She had on a diaper that was about one bounce away from springing a leak and nobody wants to be the momma of the kid who shuts the bouncy house down because of bodily fluids running down their leg. That would be the ultimate in  party fouls.

 Saturday Adam took Reese to town to buy my mothers day and to give me a chance to clean the house. And by town I mean Asland. So I was expecting a gift of the Dollar General variety, but only the card came from Dollar General. Reese logged on to the world wide web and got me a spray tan and printed off a gift card/ receipt sort of thing. Adam said she text him earlier in the week and said that's what she wanted to get me. She must know I'm a sucker for a healthy tan. Sunday we celebrated Mother's Day at our house. I had already made the announcement earlier in the week that there would be a slip and slide so the drop in temperature and the light drizzle couldn't stop the demands for it to be brought out. Reese loved it. She ran and fell more time than I can count.

 And she was freezing. Auntie Heather brought it to my attention that she was shaking she was so cold so she went in and got a warm bath. I'm sure we will be at the doctor later this week with some sort of cold.

Here's a flashback to my first Mother's Day.

I love that this year Reese is saying "cheeeeeessssseeee" with her mouth wide open.

 And I love that when I told her to smile for the picture with me she moved in closer and put her arm around my neck. It made me think about the day I found out I was pregnant and how suprised I was and how I wasn't sure I was ready for a baby, but now I have no idea what we would do without her.

And I love her face and that she was more worried about eating her chip than having her picture made. She's a lot like me in that aspect. Nothing gets between her and her food.

My proudest moment thus far

Ya'll I'm so proud. The baby girl pooped in the potty last night. I didn't know 2 grown adults could get so excited about the digestive system. Of course, Adam gagged and acted ridiculous after all the excitement ceased. A week ago yesterday she tee teed in the potty for the first time. I missed it because I was in the other room. If we can get her potty trained and lose the paci it will be our greatest life accomplishments. MeeMaw got her this potty that plays music if...um....any action happens.

Now, before you go any further please hear me when I say that I have the ugliest feet in the world. Without a doubt. But I saw this picture idea on Pinterest (really what did I do before Pinterest? It has made my life complete.) and since Reese let me paint her toes for the first time on Saturday I thought it would be perfect to commemorate the occasion with a picture. Do yourself a favor and just look at her cute little piggies.

 Friday and Saturday we went to the pool and it was the most exhausting activity I have ever taken part. Running around, trying to keep her head above water, applying sunblock, putting on her hat, putting on her float while she screamed, "no, no, no", trying to keep my swimsuit from exposing too much...it went on and on. I was seeing visions of the days I sat in a lounge chair and read a book while intermittently napping.

So I was in the fine shopping establishment also known as Fred's yesterday and saw a blow up pool for $4.99. Out loud I pointed to it and said, "you are coming home with me." It is the best $4.99 I have EVER spent. EVER.

 Sunday at church Jamison brought his safety googles and oh. my. word. how funny.

Next year/ 5k/ And some more random stuff

You know how sometimes you look back on situations in life and realize that they weren't quite as big of a deal as you thought they were during the moment? That feeling of knowing you overacted about whatever was going on. Well that's exactly the opposite of how I felt when I went back and read this post from last summer. The post about taking a job that I was clearly told would not exist the following school year. Yeah, when I went back and read that post the same bone chilling fear I had last summer coursed through my veins again. In a lot of ways I still can't believe that I took such a risk, but...drum roll please... I am happy to report that I did not get pink slipped and I was offically rehired at the board meeting last week.

When I was told a couple of weeks ago that I was being recommended for rehire I might or might not have wept. Although I did have a potential job lined up for next year, I am so happy to be staying close to home. When I worked at C'burg I left Reese in the bed every morning which meant that I didn't get to see/hold her until 4:00 every afternoon. This year I have been able to get her up, get her dressed, and basically stare adoringly at her before leaving. And every single morning I have been so thankful, even though I had no future job security, because I would have missed out on so many sweet morning hugs from my baby had I not taken that risk. Every morning that I got to wake her up and see her hair sticking up all over her head I knew without a doubt that I had made the right choice.

The moral of the story is that I have a major character flaw and it's called type A personality. When things are out of my control I get all crazy. However, (and I said this in the post last summer) I know deep in my soul that God is in control and is going to take care of us. And He did. And He will.

Moving right along. We conqurerd the 5k. It was a much tougher terrain than I had anticipated, and I swore during the race that it would be my last one....but....we are doing a 10k in June. After that my life running goals will have been met and I probably will not run another step. And then in the words of James Gregory, if y'all are running then run past a Krispy Kreme and pick me up a box.

I am not kidding when I tell you that there were people running the race (who passed us might I add) that had TWO artifical legs. And that was when I repented of my complaining sins because I really have nothing to complain about.



Sunday I had Children's Church and praise Jesus it was beautiful weather so we went outside where the static from the slide got the best of Reese's hair.

During our weather day on Friday we did a little shopping and for the first time in the history of EVER she went to sleep in her stroller.

And she got a pair of Teva's which she has worn basically since we left the store. She likes them and they are easy to put on therefore it's pretty much a match made in sandal heaven.

Tomorrow we have another weather day and I couldn't be happier about it.

We are offically in Adam's birthday month so we've got some birthday shopping to do.