Christmas Snow!

Reese was so excited when we woke up the other morning and it seemed as thought the world had been blanketed with snow. As soon as we opened the window she ran to grab her boots. It took some serious distractions to convince her to eat breakfast and get dressed before we headed outside. We went out about 9:30 a.m. and didn't come inside until 11:45 a.m., and if Reese had it her way we never would have come in. Even when she got tired she just wanted to sit on the front porch and watch the snow. She would say, "watch mommy, watch snow on bench."

Her favorite part was building our little snow man. She fittingly named him frosty.

Reese & Santa

Reese with Santa at our ward Christmas party!

Reese asks to see Santa everyday. She can even do an imitation, "HO HO HO"!

Festival of Lights at Thanksgiving Point

We knew this year Reese would really love going to see the Christmas lights. She also loved that her dad let her drive.

Some of our favorites...

We had to stop and check out Santa's reindeer. Reese wanted to climb right over the fence and jump on for a ride.

She kept asking for Santa. She's seen him several times now and can't seem to get enough. Apparently he's her new best friend. I guess that shouldn't surprise me, as we keep telling her he's going to bring her presents. Reese is always game for presents!

Binky Gone...

That's what Reese would say. But her dad and I would say, "Reese is one step closer to "big girl" status". Potty training is the only missing link in the chain.

But for now we are celebrating how easily and bravely Reese placed all her binkys in a bag and left them for the binky fairy to take away. She said, "bye bye binkys, bye bye."

And...a few hours later she was rewarded when the binky fairy left her a present and a note.

She was so excited to find out that the binky fairy left her a pluto stuffed animal. She's wanted one for awhile.

Surprisingly however, she was just as excited about the note. She carried it around for the rest of the day, pretending to read it over and over again.

We're just so glad the binkys left with out too much of a fuss. There has been a bit more whining since their departure, but I think Reese is so used to soothing herself with her binky that she's not quite sure what to do with herself when she's upset or sad. She's asked for them a few times, but I just remind her that she gave them to the binky fairy and she seems OK with it.

Yea for Reese! Now about potty training...

Gingerbread House Massacre 2010

This year we continued our Gingerbread house tradition, and Reese couldn't have been more excited. What's not to love...a table full of frosting and candy, to nibble at your hearts content; every 2 year olds dream come true. Reese made sure to taste test every candy in every color.

She even wanted to help take pictures of her artistic work...

(Reese has now taken unofficial ownership of our old point and shoot. It's quite commical to see the things she takes pictures of...most of which are of her own eye...)

We were really proud or our finished product. In the days that followed Reese had so much fun playing with the house.

The first week she would play with it like it was a doll house of sorts. She would take our cute little gum drop family and dance them around, have them play with each other, walk with each other, and talk to each other. It was soooo cute; like a whole new toy.

But then I started noticing a few things....

It started out innocent enough...a piece of missing candy here and there, a few nibbles from the colorful rice crispy tree's....she was inconspicuous and sneaky.

The attack started slow and easy....

Then yesterday it turned into a full fledged massacre. Our poor gum drop family didn't even know what hit them. They were devoured and destroyed in seconds. Their pathway broken into pieces and the cute rice crispy tree's chewed to stubs.

...and look at that face...not an ounce of remorse or regret...pure nonchalant pleasure.

It's sad really...but we still love her and will stand by her through any potential criminal trials.

We're just glad she got so much pleasure out of our family tradition.

Santa 2010

Our good friend Cindy hooked us up with a free Santa Photo at the mall this year. We weren't sure what Reese would do, or if she'd go anywhere near the man. But as always, she surprised us all and happily posed for the photo. She even told Santa that she wanted a princess for Christmas. Our little girl is growing up so fast.

After, as I was looking at the photo, I couldn't help but notice how big she is. She looks particularly tall in this photo. I had one of those mom moments, when you realize that your baby really isn't a baby anymore. I guess it's a good thing I have another baby on the way.

Quotes I've read recently...and really liked

"Everybody is a genius, but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid."

"Words do not convey meanings; they call them forth. I speak out of the context of my experience, and you listen out of the context of yours, and that is why communication is difficult." - David O. McKay

"I believe with all my heart that because God loves us there are some particularized challenges that he will deliver to each of us. He will customize the curriculum for each of us in order to teach us the things we most need to know." - Neal A. Maxwell

"Our scars are there to remind us of where we’ve been, but they don’t have to dictate where we’re headed."

IN THE PINK!

That's what we are; in the pink!

In more ways than one.

I'm now in my 22nd week of pregnancy,

expecting another beautiful baby girl!

Most importantly it's a healthy baby girl! This has been a rough pregnancy. I've been feeling a bit like Jonah lately. Just when I feel like one torturous symptom ends, another begins. But honestly I'm just so grateful this little person has hung on as long as she has and we're eagerly anticipating her healthy arrival.

Needless to say, Reese and I are thrilled to have another girl join our team. Arnold however is a bit concerned about the estrogen overtaking our house. I keep telling him how lucky he is! His whole life will be filled surrounded by women that love and adore him, and whether he realizes it or not he does such a good job of dealing with us. We couldn't ask for a better husband and daddy!

Disney On Ice

Reese's uncle Kit surprised her with tickets to Disney on Ice again this year! Reese was so excited and wanted to take her friend Rowan! These two little girls danced, screamed, clapped, sang, jumped up and down, and pretty much had the time of their life. They even successfully drove off anyone who dared sit in front of them. It was pretty funny.

Thanks Uncle Kit! We had a blast!

Family update

I'm now almost 20 weeks pregnant and feeling this baby squirm almost every day. This is probably my favorite time of pregnancy; right in the middle. I'm feeling a little better, although still struggling with morning sickness for the first couple hours of the day, but a couple is better than 24/7...right? I'm not too uncomfortable yet. I'm getting fairly decent sleep at night (as long as I'm in my own bed...it's really the best bed in the world) and my energy level seems better; not 100% but better. I know the downward slope is right around the corner, as my syatic nerve has started to act up a little and I have a hard time sitting for more than about 30 minutes at a time. But I'm trying to enjoy the little relief I feel and counting my blessings that this little person has made it this far. I know one thing for sure...I couldn't do any of this with out Arnold, and not just for the obvious reasons. He has really been such an amazing husband. He takes such good care of me and Reese. We are so grateful for his patience and hard work.

Next Monday, we get to find out if we're having a boy or a girl. Arnold and I have had many conversations on which we would prefer and the truth is, neither one of us can decide. We will whole heatedly be happy for either. I'm just glad I don't have to make that decision. This will most likely be our last child, so I know which ever we get, it's what Heavenly Father knows is best for our family.

In other family news, Reese is changing so much lately. She surprises us daily with new words, funny little phrases, and creative ways of finding trouble. I had my mind set on potty training this week, but Reese had other plans. I'm afraid I may have missed my "window" with her. A couple months ago all she wanted to do was use the potty. But I was just too sick to do much about it. Now the mere mention of big girl pants and/or the potty, she screams in a fit of rage and runs and hides. Have I mentioned that Reese is stubborn! I'm pretty sure I can't force her to do anything. She is her mother's daughter. So we're starting at square one and going to take the next month or so to try and get her interested again. Wish us luck. Instead we decided to get rid of the binky first. So this weekend we will be getting a visit from the binky fairy. If only she understood, she might re-think the whole potty training decision.

We are getting so excited for the holidays. We talk about Christmas with Reese every day and I think this will be the first year that she understands Santa. She gets so excited about surprises and we can't wait until Christmas morning. When she comes downstairs and sees everything that Santa brings, I have no doubt she will not disappoint with excitement. We can't wait to do all our family traditions, perhaps adding a few this year. I'm just glad I'm done Christmas shopping, so with that stress out of the way I'm looking forward to a nice relaxing and peaceful Christmas at home. Being pregnant, that's just what I need.

So, that's the brief update on us. We're plugging along, surviving one day at a time, but having fun in the process.

Domestic helper...

Reese is becoming my little domestic helper. She loves to be by my side helping me with all the chores. I try to find little things that I can teach her, revolving around some of the daily things we do...like folding. She loves to fold clothes with me, so I've been teaching her how to fold the washcloths. This is her first stack of washcloths folded by Reese, without any help from mommy. Not bad for a 2 year old!

"Punkinween"

Reese has changed the name of Halloween to "Punkinween". All week she has asked me, "When punkinween mommy?” I've tried to tell her that it's not "punkinween" it's "Halloween". But she quickly corrects me a say's, "no mommy, punkinween."

Our Halloween started out as a nice day but by trick-or-treat time it was cold and pouring rain. If finally let up though and trick-or-treating was a huge success. Reese was a little independent trick-or-treater, marching right up to every door, holding out her bucket, and saying "trick-or-treat". She was also a very polite trick-or-treater. She always said thank you, goodbye, and if they were lucky she blew them a kiss.

Reese was in love with her Halloween costume, especially her hat. For some reason she has been obsessed with pumpkins this year. She probably would have slept in her costume, had we let her.

This is Reese patiently waiting on the porch for the rain to stop. She had both her buckets ready to go.

Carving Pumpkins

Reese was so excited to carve pumpkins this year. Surprisingly her favorite part was pulling out all the gooey insides.

When we were all done and ready to carry the pumpkins to the front porch Reese wanted to carry her own. I asked her if it was too heavy. She said, "mommy I do it, I big." And she did it.

Cornbelly's Pumpkin Fest 2010

Cornbelly's has become a bit of a family tradition for us; mainly because Arnold always gets free tickets. But we always have a lot of fun. Reese particularly loved all the pumpkins. The corn maze was another favorite this year.