peek-a-boo

I had my last prenatal appointment here before moving and the clinic now does 3-D ultrasound pictures. So as a nice little bonus, we got a special peek at our little boy at 31 weeks.

moving

We sold our house! And, we signed on a new home! Yeah! Everything is just really falling into place for us....

Joey had a business trip planned to Colorado Springs this week and, if our house was sold, me and the girls were going to go with him and look for a house. Well, our house went under contract, a couple weeks ago, but as we looked on our home list our Realtor, Jay, set up for us, all our homes we liked were selling or Jay wouldn't take us to because the house was trashed (why it would be in our price range). So we made a quick decision to go down last Friday. We were getting so depressed because only a couple homes were even livable. And they were small. Needed a little work; full backyard landscaping, fencing, flooring, etc. As we drove around, we stopped by a Richmond American Development (Homes starting in the $190s...yeah right). They had 2 homes available now. One, closer to our price range was cute. Small. Hardly a backyard at all, but finished. The other was beautiful. 4 beds upstairs, wood flooring, granite tile counter tops, all stainless appliances (including the fridge, which we'd need) and washer and dryer (which we also need...). Just perfect. Way, WAY too much. But we thought we'd try anyhow. Offered way below what the home was listed at, the most we could do. AND THEY ACCEPTED! We were shocked. I think it helped that we had no contingency on our current home, were being relocated and were able to move in soon. So, we signed the contract and everything just keeps falling into place for us. We are so grateful. We know that Heavenly Father has truly blessed us.

Here are some pictures (mostly just for my mom to see). They aren't great and the home still needs some finishing touch ups, but you'll still get the feel of the home.

Here's the layout. Only flipped. We have the optional extended family room, fireplace and patio. (Ignore the top optional figures.)

yeah. today is over!

I have been dreading this Sunday for about a month and a half now.

Yes, we were asked to talk.

Not too big of a deal for Joey. BIG deal for me.

But it's over.

Yeah!

the power of an example

We've all heard it before. Be a good example, you never know who's watching. And every once in awhile we see the "results" of being that example but not usually. Even when you have kids, you often don't see how they copy you and your mannerisms. It's normal to you, so it's normal for them to do it (unless of course when your toddler yells out "CRAP" or something of the sort -hopefully nothing worse-, something a child should not be doing). But I have really started to see just how young you can be to be an example and just how young you really can be to follow it (or just copy it).

The other day Reganne (now 17 months) dropped a toy on her toe. She came whimpering over to me saying "ah right, ah right" in her sweet little voice. Then she lifted up her foot for me to kiss. After my all healing kiss, she ran back to her toys. She's never done that before. Who does? Marryn. ALL THE TIME. Every bump, scrape, hit, whatever, she runs to us saying she's all right, but she needs a kiss. Then presto, good as new. (It'll be so sad when that kiss doesn't heal all.) But as I watched the girls this morning, I kept thinking of all these little things that Reganne does as a result of watching Marryn. She loves to "dress up" now. She brings me clothes (of course not the ones from the dress up basket, but ones from Marryn's closet or drawers) and wants me to put them on, (or finds a hat, usually Marryn's beanies, and puts it on herself) then she turns in circles singing "I know" over and over (as in I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream - the song from Sleeping Beauty). Now, I don't do this, who does? Yep, Marryn. One of the funniest is when Marryn wants a cup of milk. We pour her some milk in her sippy cup and now who wants some? Reganne. Only Reganne won't drink milk. But we still have to pour her some (I guess I'm really hoping all this wasted milk will eventually turn her into a milk drinker, but if not, I don't blame her, I don't like milk myself). So we pull out another sippy cup and fill it half up. Sometimes we even add a little chocolate. Marryn gets so excited, so, so does Reganne. And she'll carry that cup around with her, taking little sips here and there, but never actually drinking it.

Now all this good example stuff it great, but what about the other end. Reganne, our mellow child started throwing herself on the floor in full out fits very early on. Way too early. The other day Marryn got pretty upset with me because I turned off the TV. As she jumped up and down screaming, I glanced over at Reganne, her eyes all big and engrossed in what Marryn was doing. Great. Another learning moment. We've been trying to explain to Marryn that she needs to be good so Reganne will be good and for the most part, she's so sweet, even to Reganne. But she is only 3. Her "wants" can quickly overpower her.

So what's the point of my blabbing on and on? Nothing really, except that I'm learning what other mothers of siblings already know. Each child learns "stuff" quicker and earlier on than the one before, all by the power of example.

My biggest fear with our next child is all the physical stuff. I've always heard how boys are so much more "physically inclined" than girls. And now this little boy will have two older siblings showing him all this jumping and climbing and stuff that they can do, but he shouldn't, but will anyways. I guess the good thing is that I'll be even less nervous than I was with Marryn, and then with Reganne (who did climb up stuff way earlier than Marryn...).

Reganne had to dress up too.

And play with the butterfly net.

And yes, that is milk in her cup. And no, she did not drink it.

house listing

Here is a link to our house listing

http://www.northerncoloradohomeguide.com/
MLS# 556564

Nothing fancy. If you look in one of the living room photos, you'll see a princess crown sticking out of the couch. I was trying so hard to keep the girls in their room, but they were so persistent in "showing off" their toys. Reganne's room isn't pictured for we hadn't painted over the pink paint yet and Marryn is now sleeping in our guest room, although I changed the bedding out for something more girlie (ie. pink flowers). I really wish they could have seperate rooms in our next house. (I plan on giving the baby his own room and the girls sharing and then hopefully having a guest room.) They both sleep so much better! And it's really nice during Reganne's naptime. Marryn isn't just "stuck". Now she can go to her own room and play!

disappointed

We just got back from an overnight stay in Colorado Springs. Joe's boss from California flew in to do annual reviews in which they asked Joe to go to down there for it. So I jumped at the chance to go and look at homes. I was very disappointed. The one home I fell in love with on the internet (wood floors throughout!) sold before I even got a change to look at it. And it was only on the market for 13 days! Priced to sell, that's for sure. Everything else was either too small, too old (and needed too much work) or just not a good layout. I don't need anything that unique and special. All I really want is an open floorplan (like ours now), NO formal living or dining, unless it's enclosed enough to be used as a playroom or office (ie. scrapbook room) and four bedrooms (at least 3 up, one could be in the basement with a bath for our guest room). We just need to add another 10-20 grand to our budget and we'd be set. No, I still won't find my dream Craftsmen style, wood floor home, but I'd at least find something to suit our family better. I do realize how important it is that we don't overextend ourselves financially in our home (learned this the hard way) but I also realize that we're going to have another baby (mid July, by the way, talk about good timing...) and are going to need a bit more room. And to top it off, it looks like we're going to have to really drop our home price if we want to move anytime soon. We have until October to be relocated, but it'll be much easier on us if we're settled before the baby comes. (And I HATE showing our house. Yes, I like having a clean house, but a "showing" house is tough.) I guess all I really can do is continue to pray that's we'll sell our home for a good price at the right time and find a good home at the right price, at the right time. Try to be optimistic and realistic all the same.

On a good side note, I got to stop by the Gap Outlet in Castle Rock and shop BY MYSELF! (Joey sat in the car while the girls slept. What a guy!) When we got home, I showed Marryn her new flipflops and denim skirt overalls and she was so excited. She wore them over her pjs until she went to bed and then put them back on when she got up this morning! Forget toys for this 3 year old! All she needs is more clothes (as if that could be true...). Even Reganne has gotten into the girly thing. I had to put a little skirt on over her jammies (has to be just like Marryn) and she strutting around in it now, carrying her purse. Man, is Joey lucky we're having a boy!

it's a boy

we're back

Okay, so we didn't actually go anywhere, but we are now back.

Our less than 5 year old laptop crashed, for the second time now, at the beginning of February. The first time it was still under a service plan. Not so lucky this time and when I took it in, I was basically told it would cost a great deal and wouldn't be worth it. Better off just getting a new computer. So last night we finally hooked everything up in our new Dell computer. A desktop this time. (Joey and I disagreed on this one. I won.) We even got a new printer in the deal. I have to admit that everything is a bit bulky (Joe's argument for the laptop) but I LOVE the big monitor. And we're excited that we ended up with a Dell. We've read that they are very environmentally friendly....

Yeah for us!

curls

Reganne's Curls

Courtesy, her Mom

Growing up, I always said that I'd never wish curly hair on my daughters. But now that I see Reganne's, I'm secretly so excited! Landen has been our only baby born with noticable hair, a bunch of blonde tipped curls, so now I can say that I've got 2 out of 3! Poor Marryn, she looks so out of place in our family with her blonde hair. But what most don't know is that I was always blonde!

Here's a picture of me just a few months older than Reganne.

new haircut and costume

So, I walked into our bathroom the other day to find Marryn cutting off strings of floss. Kind of a waste, but I was busy, so I didn't care. That and she was actually flossing her teeth. Then I noticed a few small chunks of hair on the floor. I picked them up and asked her what this was and she, while stroking her hair, said that it was just too long.

Time for a haircut.

no white christmas here

Here's my family (minus my older half-brother Ty and his wife and daughter). Dad's holding Reganne, Mom's holding Dehcaley, then my brothers Garrett and John. It's the end of a long Christmas day at Great Grandma's for the kids...

Here's John with his adorable little girl. We found a baby picture of John (of which my mom thought was Garrett...) and she looks so much like him!

seeing santa

I took the girls to see Santa Claus last week. We were in Castle Rock shopping at the Outlet Mall and they have a really cute Santa setup. I had actually been so busy, that I hadn't really even thought that much about taking them to see him. But we came across an almost empty line so we headed in. As soon as I took Reganne out of the stroller, she walked right over to him (too bad he already had a kid on his lap). As soon as Marryn saw him (who last year went right up to him) she freaked out. That in turn freaked Reganne out, so that when it was their turn, neither wanted to see him. I persisted and stuck them on his lap. Reganne warmed back up, but Marryn looked like she was going to start crying (what more should I expect from her?). After we left, Marryn asked me where his reindeer were. Good thing she's only 3. I need to work on my "story telling" a bit more. By the time we got in the car, she was so excited that she saw Santa, she wanted to see her special book, eat her candy cane and hold her picture of them together. Funny girl.

Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving with Dave {Joey's dad} in Sheridan, WY. Everything would have been great, but poor Marryn woke up on Thanksgiving with a pretty high fever. (Okay, so we never actually took her temp, but she was roasting!) She slept most the day, didn't eat and when we told her that I was going to stay "home" with her (vs going to Dennis and Musette's {Joey's uncle and aunt}), she got even more upset! "I want to go to the Thanksgiving Party!" she kept telling us. So we took her. There were quite a few people there (around 28 or so) and I'm sure they were all thinking why in the world did we bring her! Poor thing. She drank a few drinks of soda, ate half a Popsicle and then cried unless Joey or I were holding her. After taking shifts on dinner, she finally fell asleep. And all the while still insisting that she wanted to stay at the party.... Reganne was great. Kept herself entertained visiting everyone, eating anything anyone gave to her and wandering around the house. Reganne just had a blast the entire trip. LOVES her Grandpa! At one point Dave tried to hand her to me when he was headed out the door and she looked at me, thought for a second and grabbed back onto him! Didn't want to come to me! I don't think she's ever really done that. You'd think I'd be upset, but I love to see the girls adore their grandparents, especially when they don't get to see them all the time. Although Marryn woke up the next day feeling better, she still had a rough time. Would hardly eat anything but kept complaining that her stomach hurt and that she needed some more pink pills (the chewable Tylenol-not such a good idea to make medicine taste so good...). She would get almost unbearable to deal with until we would finally get some food in her, then she'd be herself for a bit. I left both the girls with Joey on "Black Friday" while I went to Billings, MT with Chris {Dave's girlfriend} and her daughter to do some shopping (sales tax free!). It was the first time he's been with them both all day without me. It was nice to see that they were all still in their pjs when I got home that night....

Chris and Dave with the girls*Joey with Dad and Brothers, Dave and B.J.*Reganne at Marryn's makeshift table (Marryn ran off crying when I pulled out the camera)

Halloween 2007

We had a fun Halloween. Marryn was a White Fairy and Reganne was a Girl Zebra (I stuck a big white bow in her mane). On Saturday our ward held it's annual Halloween Party. The girls loved the Trunk-or-Treating. Reganne really got into the "hold out your bucket and get candy" thing. On Tuesday Marryn got to wear her costume again to preschool for a little party there. Then on Halloween, I took them into Joey's work to Trick-or-Treat. Marryn really enjoyed this one but Reganne wasn't diggin' it this time. Although, while talking with a couple of Joey's co-workers, Reganne snuck about 6 snickers bars into her bucket. After that, we went to Qdoba for free kids meals and of course, double punch Wednesday. Then we headed home to get ready for another round. Jean [Joey's mom] came over and went with me and the girls while Joey stayed home to hand out candy (the candy the girls got earlier). After hitting our backyard neighbors Norm and Connie, we crossed the street to Brian and Brandony's [our best friends] in which, we left Reganne. Then we took just Marryn. After the very next house, "I want to go back to Brian and Brandony's now." No, not yet. After the next house, "Can I go back to Brian and Brandony's now?" No, lets get some more candy. And it continued on like this for quite awhile. We only went up on side of the street and back down the other side before ending back at Brian and Brandony's. And that was enough for Marryn. We then went home and handed out most of the candy she got, keeping only the good stuff. Reganne loves the candy. Whenever we get the bowl down, she gets all excited, "oohhing". It's really cute. And the candy is a good bribe for Marryn to, you know, eat her dinner, pick up her shoes, etc. I'm almost wondering if we kept enough...

turning one

Sunday, October 28th, Reganne celebrated her 1st Birthday.

And I'm kind of sad about it. With Marryn, we were always so excited to see her grow and learn new things and do new stuff, but with Reganne, we know what is next and we just want to keep our little baby little. But, oh, is she so much fun! Although I will always miss the baby part, it is still so exciting to see her do new things. For example, on her birthday, I watched her for the first time stand up on her own (vs crawling to something to pull herself up). It's bittersweet. A completely different experience than with Marryn. I still get so excited for Marryn to "grow up" but with Reganne, I was sad to move her out of her infant car seat and now to turn her around in her convertable car seat (I was going to wait, since the "recommended" age and weight seems to keep getting higher and higher, but we're struggling to get her little legs in comfortably and she is 21.5 lbs). It just shocks me at how different I feel between the two. And it's not like she's our last baby.

Our beautiful 9 lb baby Reganne only a couple hours old.

Her birthday went well, although Saturday night I finally came down with the mysterious stomach bug that went through the family. I stayed home with Reganne from church (she luckily slept the entire 3 hours) and by that evening was feeling better. Jean [Joey's Mom] came over and we had a mozzarella spinach meatloaf and rainbow chip cupcakes. Reganne opened her few gifts (her favorite being her new brown eyed baby doll-we were tempted many times in the past month to bring it out early for her and Marryn constantly fought over Marryn's) and then she and Marryn played with their balloons Jean brought them.

And now for her check-up stats. Weight, 21.5 lbs (50%); Length 29.5 inches (60%); Head 17.5 inches (30%).

three ps

Pee. Poop. Puke.

In a single day, I cleaned up everyone of those. Ah, the joys of Motherhood.

Tuesday, at 4 in the morning Reganne puked all over me, twice. We got cleaned up, then she puked on Joey. Later that morning, after falling back asleep, she puked one last time finally emptying out her stomach. That evening Marryn couldn't quite get her ballerina suit off in time and peed. Peed all over our bathroom floor. Peed like what seemed like a gallon all over our bathroom floor. Then, what more should I expect, but Reganne pooping in the bathtub. I was happy it wasn't puke, although that would have been easier to clean up...

Thursday night was the start of Marryn's go at puking. Friday she was alright, then Saturday she was puking again. Sunday she's back to her old self; pestering Reganne, doing what I asked her not to, not doing what I ask her, etc. Reganne's appetite is finally picking back up again. She hardly seemed to nurse this past week, which scares me. With Marryn, my original goals were for a year, but she didn't want to stop (and wouldn't drink milk at the time) so, no problem, I nursed her til she was 18 months. My goal for Reganne is at least 18 months. I'll be really sad if we don't make that.... I enjoy nursing. I feel that it is the best thing for me (how else can you sit around and burn calories?) and my babies. Plus, I get extra cuddle time that nobody else can take away from me! However, I don't think that everyone needs to feel this way. Breast is Best, so they say, but really, is there much difference? Formulas are so advanced anymore. (Hey, I was formula fed, my mom did not enjoy nursing, and I'm just fine!) We joke though that I stopped Marryn too soon, for right after she turned 2, she started to get sick. Got her first ear infection, then broke out in hives (allergic to penicillin) then started with all her respiratory infections...seemed as though I kept her free from infections (a claim of breast milk itself). But who is really to say? Although, I must admit that I'm religious about taking my DHA (Omega-3) supplement for pregnant and nursing women. If there is a chance I can build up my babies brains, give them healthy eyes, you bet, I'm going to do it!

walking and other stuff

I've got to make this quick. It's lightening like crazy outside (in October?) and I'm sitting a little too close to a window for comfort. And Reganne just woke up... Anyhow, it's been awhile since I've been on our blog. Been busy and have had a house guest (Jean, my mother-in-law) who has more important things to do on the internet and computer then myself. (Although I really need to finish recording our Arizona trip before it slips away!)

Reganne is an official walker. Just before 11 months. It's so fun to watch her cruise around the house. She'll put on Marryn's beaded necklaces (or headbands or straps from Marryn's ballerina suit... anything round and big enough to fit around her head - kinda scary, but pretty darn cute) and then just wander around the house. We just love to sit and watch her.

Marryn has gotten to be so imaginative! She's making up games and songs and playing pretend. She got sick a couple weeks ago. Just had a cold that soon hit her lungs, had fast, shallow breathing. Joey had to take her to Urgent Care (it was a Sunday). The doctor suggested that since this had been the 3rd time this has happened, in the past year, that we purchase a nebulizer breathing machine thing and that she'll probably end up with asthma since there is a family history of it (thanks Joey!). She seemed to feel and act fine the next day, but it took her a few more days to really breath easier.

Luckily, Reganne only got the runny nose and cough.

9 month portraits

Just before we took off to Arizona, I was able to get some fairly descent 9 month pictures of Reganne. They aren't incredible, but at least I got some! And that rock she's gnawing on, that's where her "chipped" front tooth came from. Lovely.