A new baby girl will soon be joining the family...

I am so excited to announce that my brother and sister-in-law are expecting a new baby girl.  It's official, assuming no mistakes on the ultrasound.  Kennedy Taylor Nordfelt (Kendy for short) is due this August.  We are so excited that Reese will have a little girl cousin close to her age.  Too bad they live so far away.

I can't wait to go "little girl" shopping with you Erika...welcome to a whole new world.  You're going to love it!!

And this little guys is going to be such a great big brother! Watch out anyone who try's to mess with his little sister.


(Crew Nordfelt)

2nd tooth update

It's official, tooth #2 made it's appearance tonight. Poor little Reese has been wimpering all evening. I thought she was just tired because she missed her afternoon nap. I hate 1 p.m. church, but I guess 9 a.m. would make her miss her morning nap...so I loose either way. But I digress. So she's been wimpering. Then while bathing her I noticed it; tooth #2! I put my finger in her mouth and felt it. She did not like that. I could tell it was really hurting her. My poor little monkey. She's out for the night now. The whole teething thing hasn't seemed to disrupt her sleep yet. I'll keep my fingers crossed that it stays that way. Actually I've noticed she seems to be sleeping longer and more soundly...no complaints there.

This is Reese trying to show off her first tooth. If you blow up the picture and zoom in on her mouth...you can see it. :)

Pictures of Gina and Clint!

Gina's Getting Married!!!

Congratulations Gina!!! I'm so so excited for you!

One of my best friends, Gina, is getting married.  She is one of the most amazing and wonderful people I know and I couldn't be happier for her.

I have to take a moment and brag about the three amazing woman in the photo with me below.

Gina on the far left (the one getting married) is an interior designer that works for the Church and does interior design for new temples, she also teaches at LDS Business College part time.  She is one of the most talented people you could ever meet.  One day, shortly after we first met, I was admiring this gorgeous dresser in her bedroom.  I asked her where she got it...she made it.  The girl can build stuff! Not only can she design you a new room, she can build the furniture to go in it!  Gina is also one of the sweetest people I know.  I don't know that I've ever heard her say a mean thing about anyone.  She would do anything for a friend if they needed it.  She is very conscious of others feelings and would rather build people up than tear them down anyday.  Need I say more?

Angie, next to Gina, is the Vice President of Human Recourses for some big international Engineering Company that I can never remember the name of.  When you think HR, it might conjur up images of "Toby" from the Office.  Not Angie!  She could be a stand up comic if the whole HR gig ever went south.  She will have you rolling with laughter and trying not to pee your pants within minutes of any conversation.  She also happens to be one of the best listeners on the planet.  If you have a problem and need a good ear...Angie's your girl.

And then there's Keri, on the far right.  Keri works hard to better our world every day of her life.  She's the Executive Director of the YWC in Downtown Salt Lake.  She works day in and day out counseling women and children struggling with abuse, addiction, and whole lot more.  Keri is also a wonderful listener, she does do it professionally.  She gives the best advice and makes you feel like a million bucks every time you talk to her.  She's an incredibly talented quilter as well.  She made the beautiful quilt hanging in Reese's bedroom.  And I can't forget her amazing gift of dancing.  If you've ever seen that u-tube video of the guy doing all the daces from the 50's to present, Keri could totally smoke that guy.  Turn on the music and Keri is the life of any party.

I don't know what I did to deserve having such amazing women in my life.  They came into my life when I was going through some pretty tough trials and they held me together and helped me become whole again.  Sense then they have continued to give me support, strength and humor at all the right times and in all the right places.  

G, Ang, & KJ...I love you!

(Gina, Angie, Mindi & Keri)  It seems like every good picture I have of the people I love, is from my wedding.  I apologize, but until I had a baby I wasn't the best picture taker so the only descent pictures I have are from my wedding.

Reese's 6 month photo shoot!

Thanks Chellese! We love the great pictures of our little Reese

Milstones and Little things I want to remember...

BEDTIME
We reached a little milestone this week. Arnold put Reese to bed all by himself. When Reese was a new born, she wasn't very easy to get to bed at night. We tried the whole "put them in bed still partially awake and let them learn how to put themselves to sleep" thing, but it never worked with our little Reese. However, she started sleeping through the night at about 6 weeks so I've never complained about having to spend a little more time at night to get her to sleep. She also wouldn't go to sleep for anyone but me. Arnold tried a few times, but she seemed to think daddy was all play, no sleep. Anyway, as I mentioned in an earlier post, she has become very easy to put to bed lately and on most nights goes into her crib partially awake and puts herself to sleep. Some nights after family prayer, I put her binky in and she's asleep before I make it upstairs to put her in bed....So...last night I hosted my neighborhood book club and we decided to have Arnold try to put her to bed so I wouldn't have to leave my guests. I am happy to announce that it was a success! She went right to bed for him, no problems to report. I have to admit that I have a few mixed feelings about this. I'm excited that I'm not home bound by 8:30 p.m. anymore, but a little sad. Snuggling with Reese at bedtime was my favorite time of the day. I would sing to her and we would have our little conversations as she drifted off to sleep. I would talk, she would coo and giggle. The have been some of the best moments of my life. Time goes by way to fast!

CRAWLING
Reese is almost fully crawling. She can totally do it when properly motivated. What is this proper motivation you may ask; believe it or not it's a tall glass of ice water. Let me explain. Reese loves to drink out of Arnold or my glass of water. She won't have anything to do with a sippy cup, she wants the real thing. I have to admit she's not bad at it. With our help she drinks really well, with no spills. So, if we want her to crawl on demand we put a glass of water in front of her and she hops right up on all fours and goes for it. No toy does the trick, no binky, no blanky, no dolly, and no person...just a glass of water.

NO CHORES FOR MOMMY
Today Arnold left on a business trip. He won't be back until Saturday. We miss him already. Usually in the evening Arnold will watch Reese while I catch up on chores or work that I didn't get done during the day. Well tonight Reese was in the family room playing with all her toys. totally occupied.  So I thought I'd finish the laundry and Ironing, and clean up the kitchen. Every time I got up to do something Reese would protest and start complaining. It wasn't that she wanted me to play with her; she was fine playing by herself. She wouldn't even pay attention to me until I tried to do something. I was allowed to sit on the couch and watch TV, or sit on the floor by her, but if I tried to anything else she was not happy. I couldn't decide if this was really annoying because I couldn't get anything done, or if I should be thankful to my little best friend for insisting that mommy relax. I would give anything for a small glimpse into that little head of hers.

Tooth #2

Well it looks like tooth #2 will be making it's arrival soon. I was checking Reese's first little tooth this morning and noticed the the tooth right next to it is barley under the surface. Her gums are all swollen and it looks like it's ready to break through any day now. I wish I could get a picture of it, but of course she doesn't allow that.

First swing ride, first time down the slide and WHAT!??? is that a tooth?

We took Reese to the park today. Unfortunately I forgot the camera, but as I was pushing her on the swing and she was flashing me her pearly, ok well more like drooly gums, I noticed a little something in her mouth. I stopped to get a better look and sure enough, Reese's first tooth has broken through. I can't believe it! That probably explains why she's been a little whinny and clingy today. My baby is getting teeth!

Spring has brought me such a nice surprise...

I love spring, the smell of grass and the trees in blossom, the warm sun hitting my white legs, the sound of children playing outside at dusk, and the cool night breeze coming in my windows.

Reese and I enjoyed the sun today and she experienced the joy of basking in the sun and the feeling of grass on her legs for the first time. She even got to try out her new sunglasses. She is quite the little diva!

We look forward to playing outside again tomorrow and enjoying the sun with daddy!




These are a few other cute shots from today. Reese's favorite toy of the day, a little promotional soccer ball I got at a work function. I even got her to play a little catch with me. I sat in front of her and rolled the ball to her and she would push it back and laugh and laugh. Who knows, maybe she'll take after her cousins Riley and Mycol and be a little soccer player.

Preview of Reese's 6 month Photo Shoot

This is a sneak peek of Reese's 6 month photo shoot. A good friend of mine is the photographer. Check out her web site at:

http://www.cbcgphotography.blogspot.com/

More Photo's to come.  Thanks Chellese! Reese had such a good time. I can't wait to see all the shots!

Celery, Crackers...what's next!

Last night we discovered that Reese loves Celery. I always keep celery and carrots in the fridge to snack on. While I was making dinner I had a few out and Reese kept reaching for one, so I handed her a celery stick and she sucked and gnawed on it until it a pile of mush. Crazy kid. We've also discovered that she loves crackers. I gave her one the other day and she ate the whole thing.

On another note...last night after our bedtime routine I rocked Reese for a couple minutes and then put her in her crib, still awake, but a little drowsy. I left the room and didn't hear from her again. She totally put herself to sleep. I couldn't believe it. It's been getting progressively easier and easier to get her to sleep. I was down to just rocking her for 5 or 10 minutes and she was out cold. But last night, I was so excited. My big girl is growing up so fast. I love watching her grow! It's so rewarding to see her progressing. It's crazy to think about all the things she has to learn to do herself. Arnold and I were talking the other night about how amazing it is that something so small can learn so many things so quickly. From doing nothing for themselves to walking, talking, eating, reading, writing etc.... If you start to think about it, it's rather overwhelming and pretty darn miraculous!

Anyway, we're so proud of you Reese. You're such a quick learner! We can't wait to teach you so many things.

We are family!

On Sunday Iliana gave a great lesson in Miamaids (Thanks Iliana for all your great lessons). It was on supporting your family members. It got me thinking about what a great family I have and how grateful I am for my brothers and sister. Maybe it's because we grew up in the military and moved around so much that allowed us to become so close. Often when we moved we had to be each others best friends, we didn't have anyone else. Now that we are all grown up, we're still extremely close. We may fight and get mad at each other from time to time, but when push comes to shove we are always there for each other. I can't imagine where I would be in life with out them. Thanks Jen, Kit & Brady for always being my best friends! I hope one day my children will love and take care of each other the way we do.

(This picture is my favorite picture of the four of us. It happens to be at my wedding, but I just love it.)

Happy hump day to Reese!

Yep...our little monkey turned 6 months old on March 10th. We can hardly believe she's been with us for half a year. Here are her stats:

19.2 lbs. - 95%
28.5 in. - 115%
43 Cm. - 70%

Our little Reesy is one tall little girl. She definitely takes after her daddy.

And a few fun facts:
1. Reese is seconds from crawling. On a couple of occasions we've actually seen her crawl forward a little, but she's not consistent yet. I think she's still trying to figure it all out, but I'm afraid it's going to be sooner than later. Not that it matters, she manages to get anywhere she needs to by scooting or rolling. I'm amazed daily at her ability to maneuver around. Nothing can stop her. It's driving me a little crazy. I really took for granted that short time of immobility.

2. Reese is excellent eater. She love's solids. Her favorites are green beans and peas. Believe it or not, she gets more excited for those than her fruits. However, the one exception would probably be frozen pineapple in her mesh feeder. She's her granddaddy's little girl and she loves her pineapple. I'm sure when she gets a little older my dad will introduce her to pineapple milkshakes and all will be lost.

3. Reese still sleeps long nights, 11 or 12 hours. She didn't used to be a very good nap taker, but I'm happy to report that she's now takes at least 2 good 1-2 hour naps a day. Sometimes she even sneaks in a 3rd in the early evening. Yea for mommy, more time to get things done!

4. Reese loves books! She used to be more interested in sucking on them than looking at them, but lately she will hand me a book and will sit perfectly still while I read it to her. I think she likes the sound of my voice when she's tired, as this usually happens right before a nap or bedtime.

5. Reese loves the water. Bath time is becoming more fun, and messier. She has discovered how to splash and she thinks it's pretty funny. I can't wait to get her into a pool this summer.

6. We're pretty sure Reese's eyes are going to be Hazel, just like her dad. When I was pregnant I always told Arnold that I hoped that if she got one thing from him, I wanted it to be his eyes. Arnold has beautiful eyes! And sure enough, she got them!

Crazy!

I just finished inputting our February expenses into our budget and I couldn't believe it. A few months ago, at the height of the Gas crisis we were spending over $200 a month on gas. In February 09 we spent $42.53. CRAZY!!!

Snuggles

One of Reese's nick names really should be Snuggles. She loves to snuggle and I can't say that I mind. I love nothing more than snuggling with my baby girl. I wish I could snuggle all day long.

Silly Mom...you can't contain me!

If not strapped in, Reese can escape anything these days. (She's crawling out, not in.)

First string cut...

So I did it. I've turned off the baby monitor! Well at night time anyway. I still use it for naps, when I go to the basement or I'm doing laundry etc... But at night time, no more baby monitor. Reese is such a good night sleeper. She has been consistantly sleeping 11 or 12 hours a night for a couple months now. She does, however, talk in her sleep sometimes, or cough, or cry out a little, all of which wake me up. I've been sick all week and in desperate need of uninteruped sleep, so I did it, I cut the first string. Now I don't hear her unitl morning when she screams at me to come get her.

On a side note, now that Reese rolls over and is no longer swaddled at night we've discovered that she's a tummy sleeper. I put her down every night on her back, but when I check on her right before I go to bed, she's always on her tummy. Even for naps she rolls over to her tummy to sleep. She's just like her dad!

Happy Birthday Arnold!

Yesterday was Arnold 32nd birthday! Unfortunately both of us are sick, so it wasn't the most exciting birthday. We both took sick days and stayed in bed for most of the day switching off taking care of Reese. We ended the day with take out from Bajio (Me)and Panda Express (Arnold). We also rented the movie AUSTRALIA (which I loved, by the way). Needless to say it wasn't the most exciting birthday for Arnold. But I have a few little tricks up my sleeve to make up for it a little later.

Anyway, Happy Birthday Arnold! I love you more than ever!! You are the love of my life!

She's so close, she can taste it!

Reese wants to crawl so badly she can taste it. She gets up on all fours and rocks back and forth desperately trying to figure out how to propel herself forward. After a short time she grunts in frustration and belly flops. However, this morning she did manage to get one knee in front and move forward one scoot before she belly flopped. It was so cute! It won't be long before she figures it out, everything clicks and I'm in trouble!

Decided!

Well after much debate and a lot of great advice from everyone (thank you), we decided to get a full high chair. The booster-type is great, but they just wouldn't work with our dining chairs. The full chair is nice too; it lowers all the way down and has wheels, and all kinds of awesome features. It also converts to a stool chair or a dining chair for when she's ready to belly up to the bar or dinner table. Reese loves it. I was so surprised! She actually gets really excited when I put her in it. We'll see how long that lasts.

She's also pretty fond of her new mesh feeder. She loves it with frozen grapes or pineapple! Yumm!

Weekend Update

We had a fun weekend here at the Thiebaud house. Grandma and Grandpa Nordfelt came for a visit. They were nice enough to baby-sit while Arnold and I went to The Chocolate Extravaganza. Reese had such a good time hanging out with her grandparents. We don't know what they did to her while we were gone, but for some reason she has started screaming in excitement constantly this weekend. She thinks she's so funny. She was screaming occasionally before, but it's like she's figured out that she can scream really really loud and everyone will look at her. She and I even had a screaming contest yesterday, until we'd driven daddy crazy so we stopped. Good Times!

Anyway, Arnold and I had a great time at the Chocolate Extravaganza and came home with more chocolate than we know what to do with. On Saturday my niece Mycol was in her school play, Cinderella. Reese loved the play, she screamed at her favorite parts. Today has been a nice and relaxing day. Unfortunately I haven't felt very good, but it was nice rest for the day
(A few fun pictures from our weekend below.)

I just thought this was cute picture of Reese. She is eating so good now. She's tryed all the vegtables she can for now, so we'll be moving on to fruits.

Reese riding on her daddy's shoulders.

Reese and Grandma Nordfelt.