Reid's First Snow

Look at me--two posts in a day!! That's what a snow day will get you ;) After waiting...and waiting...and checking the school district's website and WFAA.com (who both said the district would be closed today)...then waiting some more, I finally got the official call at 6:15 that today would be a snow day. Exciting, yes, but we were hoping for a late start so that we wouldn't have to make up an entire day later in the spring. Oh, well. I'll take it and enjoy it!! The only thing that marred today is finding out my "special friend" (translated, kid who threw chairs across the room, tried to bite me, and had to be physically removed from my classroom--all on separate days--just to name a few of the lovely things that've happened) will be back in my class this week. I just think it is so unfair for the other 20 children I have to deal with this...and no, I do not have an aide/helper. So we'll all be tiptoeing around on eggshells again, wondering when he'll go off. (Prayers are appreciated--they can accomplish more than anything else!!!) Yes, I've already cried.

Anyhow, had one more video I took before the snow day...Reid LOVES balls that roll, even if they bonk him in the face inadvertently.



On to the snow! Reid wasn't quite sure what to think of his snowsuit (thanks, Aunt Laura! We wouldn't have had anything warm enough if it weren't for this adorable hand me down.) but was all smiles when we took him outside to see all the white stuff.



Daddy built a snowman that was a little bit taller than Reid, but Reid did not want to stand in the cold white stuff.

I added another little hat to make sure his ears were indeed warm enough, but then he wouldn't really turn his head.

We walked (carefully!) down the street to see the sights.

Reid made his first snow angel (with a little help from Mommy, of course).

We found a snowman almost as big as Daddy (and across the street, there was actually a taller one!)...

Back in our own backyard, we played some more. I realized I never put on makeup yesterday...went to church and all! Oh, well.

Our house, from the back:

Once back indoors in the warmth, Jason kept Reid entertained with one of his new Christmas toys. They've played with it a lot, but for some reason it totally cracked him up.

And the newest food o' the week? Pears, our first fruit! Check out his reaction. That was the second day to eat them, and he seems to like them, but it's the same reaction I have to Sweet Tarts, lol. I was very excited to capture it on film!

Cotton Bowl

It was a house divided on Friday...as most of you know, Jason is an LSU alum and I am an A&M alum. So we weren't quite sure what to put our little pumpkin in for game day.

Since I typically dress him, this was my first choice (notice the big smile!).



Add a leather helmet and he could go for the Heisman!



Of course, what fun would it be to only root for one team? Daddy got a hold of him and switched the apparel to purple and gold. (no smile)

Finally, he cracked a gummer grin.

Jason and I haven't done anything fun with just the two of us in quite some time, so we took the day off to catch up with old friends and tailgate. We had lunch with another divided couple--my friend Dave was a Fish Camp counselor with me at A&M, and his wife Tracy worked with Jason's brother at a restaurant in Baton Rouge. (yes, it's a small world!) We met up with them for lunch before heading out to the stadium. Check out their ride:

People looked confused all day, expecting the two Aggies and the two Tigers to sit on the same sides of the booth, etc. It was hilarious!

As we tailgated with a bunch of Tigers, we randomly ran into another Camp Smith friend, Zach.

Later that afternoon, we made sure to visit Mandy and Johnny, old friends from Houston.

Couldn't pass up taking a pic of this sign. I'm not sure why people say Tigers smell like corndogs, but it was hilarous...

...especially with a snared Tiger! (and please take note of the "Cousin Eddie" shoes he has with the yellow golf pants...classic)

The sunset was absolutely breath taking as we headed to the stadium.

My Ags did their best, but we didn't quite score enough points to win, lol. I was the lone maroon in a sea of purple, but thankfully the Tigers around me were fairly nice. It was a good time!

Videos

So I've been putting off the videos because they take forEVER to upload...but they're too cute to keep to myself ;) And pardon my cheesiness. I absolutely cringe when I hear my own (very garish) mommy voice on these. Sheesh.

Here's one of Reid's first experiences with solids (green beans, which he actually ended up liking) the weekend before Christmas.

Our little furry visitor, who peeked in the window several times during the morning hours in my two weeks of vacation. The video turned out kind of dark, but his fluffy little white tail shows up well.

Reid was a good little shopper for most of the break. At first, he hated going shopping anywhere (when I wanted to get it out of the way). Then, we couldn't go a day where he did NOT want to get out. He'd scream and cry in the mornings until we got out and did something! Here's a video where we'd just gone to Hobby Lobby (for a veeeeery long return...not even shopping) and I discovered that he'd crack himself up when I made his Santa lovey bop him on the head. The background parking lot noise is a little bit loud, but his sweet little chuckles are priceless!

A short clip of Christmas (Christmas Eve?) morning...in Grumpy's hat:

A new Christmas toy from Santa (attached to his high chair, which we just started to enjoy because I can actually have two hands to make/warm his bottle once he's strapped in!). The funny thing is that he could care less about this toy ever since.

His newest bouncer accomplishment (yes, I caved in and moved it downstairs....he was never a spitter-upper until the eighth formula switch and I don't dare put him flat for at least 30 minutes after eating nowadays...hoping ninth time is the charm...). Be sure to check out his bib!

He finally realized he can make the chameleon on his jumper go off all by himself. So cute! He was very smiley this day--loved it! He tends to be a very touchy little guy, but we are quite thankful that God blessed us with him, cranky or not!!

And his newest favorite feat (or should I say "feet"?)...drum roll, please...taking off his own socks to chew/suck on. Of course, in true Stacey fortune, he never performs "on demand," but this is just after he'd repeated the feat (feet!) three times or so.

I never cease to be amazed at God's fine workmanship. Reid keeps us on our toes and is such a blessing. The two of us were on a walk today and I just couldn't tear my eyes away from him...his brown hair and beautiful steel blue eyes...so wonderfully created as perfectly stated in Psalm 139:14.

Happy New Year 2011!!

Happy New Year!! Can't believe it's 2011...sounds sooo weird to say that. I am quite blessed to have a "major hunk" in my life. (well, two major hunks--his Daddy isn't too shabby ;)


He wasn't too keen on the idea of taking pictures at first...

But then Daddy blew one of the little horns and voila! Pictures!

What?? It's a new year?! Dixie and Samson didn't tell me!

Now how do I get it to make that funny noise??

And here's his outfit for the day. Just couldn't pass it up!

May you and your family have a blessed 2011!! We can't wait to see what a new year unfolds for our family.

Reid's First Christmas

So here is the finished card from my last post...hope you and yours had a very merry CHRISTmas!!
A couple of weeks ago, we took Reid to the mall to see Santa for his first annual photo. It's one of those quintessential childhood things you just have to do. We got in line during Santa's "milk and cookie break" in hopes that it would be short. All in all, we really didn't have to wait too long...maybe 30 minutes once the line started moving. Reid was happy to watch everyone around us, especially the little girl behind us who was just beginning to walk.




The decorations were amazing--it was total advertisement for the newst Narnia movie, but even as an adult, the ice palace was gorgeous. Once you get inside it, it "snows" out of the ceiling. Let's just say it's great for the older kids (although pretty dumb that it's right before the pics b/c I'm pretty sure the kids all have the faux snow in their hair for pictures) , but we are still finding it in our stroller, lol. Jason tried to get a quick pic of us on the ice throne, but our turn was up next.



Mrs. Claus recommended that we back Reid into Santa so he wouldn't freak out. Worked like a charm. I wanted to see what he'd do once he saw Santa, so I turned him around once we were done. No freaking out, no tears...and we'd expected the scene from A Christmas Story!

Here's the official pic:

Grammy and Grumpy were kind enough to drive up from Houston for Reid's first Christmas (translation...we did not have to pack up the entire house plus the kitchen sink just for a couple of days). I always wanted to have our baby's first Christmas in our own house :) Don't let the picture fool you...Reid was not this happy little camper and fussed most of the time they were here (sorry, Mom and Dad!). He never really napped well, ate well, etc. I think my being off and his not seeing the sitter for two weeks has affected a lot--it makes his schedule totally different.

Showing off his new bib for Grammy and Grumpy:

We adults opened our gifts on Christmas Eve...

Christmas morning, Reid was obsessed with Grumpy and his hat.

Everyone changed after a Mexican fiesta breakfast, then it was time for the newest French to "open" his gifts. He was more into Dixie playing with the tissue paper (he is totally and completely obsessed with the cats lately!!) than the actual gifts, but he got a great assortment that he'll be able to use all year--they ranged from his current age all the way up to 12 months. Yay!

Photo Shoot

My friend Jen (who took Reid's newborn photos--she's amazing!) came to our house for a photo session. At first, things didn't go so well...

Thankfully, things looked up (for awhile at least ;) He did get pretty cranky for awhile, but mostly cooperated)

Yes, Santa...I've been good (mostly)!

Who, me???

No, really...the fish was THIS BIG!!!

What exactly do you call this doo-hicky?

Am I cute, or what??

Check out my baby blues...

And Mommy's personal favorite...Baby Santa on the blankie. So sweet!

December

The past few weeks were fast and furious, just as we figured they'd be. This time of the year is always, always crazy. Add a 6 month old and it's just plain nuts! The good news is that Reid seems to have settled on a formula (finally...for now, anyway). Oddly enough, it is the one he really liked a few months ago. Our pediatrician mentioned (in passing) that Enfamil Premium Lipil can be a little harder to digest than the older Enfamil Lipil. The premium is pretty much all I ever see anymore, so I just assumed it was the same thing with a different name, but I guess they've added a bunch of other junk to it that now makes it harder to digest. Reid is one of those kids who is affected by it, so it seems. Bad news...I can only find it at Kroger (the don't have the premium) and I won't be surprised if it's not around much longer. It also only comes in small cans...not exactly cost effective. Good news...he likes it and doesn't fuss when he eats. Still having some poopy issues (no, I will not give the dirty details except that I NEVER thought so much of our daily c0nversation would revolve around our baby's poop!!) and he is still spitting up after every other feeding or so, but he's been much happier...almost like a 'normal' baby (as far as eating), lol!

Oatmeal suddenly clicked one day. He couldn't get enough and now often grabs my hand to attempt to feed himself, which sometimes results in gagging himself instead. Pretty funny! We had to stop oatmeal for about a week b/c the pediatrician was wondering if Reid has a gluten intolerance. We're still not exactly sure, but it didn't seem to make much of a difference when we did stop...except that he quit sleeping through the night for a few days, but that could've been from the 6 mo. shots. He did NOT react well to those, so I ended up having to take a day off of work to take care of him. He cried ALL DAY LONG. Not fun, but I wasn't about to send him to the sitter like that, not knowing if he was really okay or not.

We pinch pennies anywhere we can these days. A couple of years ago, Jason and I took a little drive over on the east side of McKinney because it was a nice day. We happened upon a little thrift store (just like a garage sale, but all in one building!) and didn't think much of it at the time, but now I visit it regularly. Kids outgrow stuff so fast that it's pretty silly to pay full price (or even half price!) for clothes. This place has really cute, gently used clothes for dirt cheap. Disinfect/wash and viola! New wardrobe :) Jason actually found this little dinosaur outfit:

Reid and I are a part of a playgroup where all the moms are teachers. My friend Emily organized it b/c we were all jealous of the SAHM (stay at home moms) who get to have playdates anytime. Somehow, this was only the second one Reid and I had been to. They meet once a month, but one time he was sick, one time I was sick, two times it was the same night as Bible study, etc. So we made it to the Christmas one and had so much fun! We missed the big photo of all the kids because Reid can't really sit up by himself yet, but here's a glimpse of the hilarity of attempting to get so many kids under the age of 2 into one photo:

Here's Reid with Emily's little girl, Molly. Emily and I are still amazed that two years ago at this time, we were meeting at Starbucks to do a Bible study on the topic of infertility. God is amazing!




Jason's dad flew in from Houston to watch Reid (Thank you, Papa!!) while we went to Jason's company party. Bruce is amazing with kids and Reid giggled, smiled, and cooed all day.



We all had lunch at Nate's and walked around the Village at Fairview. They have an amazing Christmas tree set up and it was a beautiful day, so we paused for a photo op. It was soooo bright...


Three generations of French boys:

I hadn't dressed up in so long that I forgot what I used to do! I guess Jason and I clean up pretty well, lol. This isn't the best pic, but the full length one turned out blurry.

His company party had a yummy dinner. As tradition goes (with our laughable bad luck, or "lack of luck"?) he won 4 tickets to Holiday in the Park at 6 Flags. We really wanted the Wal-Mart gift card for diapers... but beggers can't be choosers. And later on, little did Jason know he'd be part of the entertainment! I only got a quick second on video and he'd kill me if he knew this was posted (not a problem since he doesn't read the blog, hahaha!), but here's a peek.