Egg Hunts

I signed up to host this year's Easter egg hunt for Reid's playgroup at our house.  One of the other girls was going to help me (last year I stressed myself out hosting by myself--the other girls are all creative and go all out, which intimidated me until we've gotten to know each other better), which sounded good, but I ended up doing most everything.  Good thing, too, because her poor daughter came down with pink eye the day of, so she just dropped by to bring the bread bunny with spinach/artichoke dip, cookies, and cute banner.  I really enjoyed gearing up for it this time and ended up spending all the night before until midnight getting everything shopped for, prepared, and set up.  I think part of it is a little selfish...it's always so nice to hear people say you're creative (thanks, Pinterest!!  But the Peeps pops were all my own idea!), that your house and yard look great, and other nice compliments.  Everything turned out great!

We herded the kids inside for a minute to "hide" the eggs.  Then, it was all fair game!  Reid still didn't really get the whole concept of putting the eggs IN his basket, but it was fun nonetheless.

This was the best picture we've ever gotten of all the kids!  Even the two newest additions were quite happy to sit and be in the picture.  One of the twins was having too much fun indoors to come out, and I love how a couple were done by this stage (notice Reid checking out Hadley's eggs in her basket).  So funny!

Much to my surprise (and pleasure) Reid plopped right down and played with Tate, my friend Emily's son.  Hard to believe he'll already be a year old in July...seems like he was just born!

After the egg hunt, we had our traditional cookie decorating.  Reid heard someone say the magic word "cookie" and immediately sat down outside at his little table.  I was inside at the time and peeked out.  He was all by himself, sitting the nicest I'd ever seen saying, "Mommy, want cookie!  Cookie, Mommy!"  Everyone else quickly joined him.

This kiddo was in heaven with his egg-shaped, pink icing, and a TON of sprinkles.  Basically, he emptied the entire container of sprinkles onto his plate.  Lovely.

Once everyone headed home for dinner, Reid entertained himself with an extra long "tunnel" that the breeze had knocked off of our wine cabinet.  Who knew this could hold his attention for soooo long!  Should've tried it long, long ago...

Jason left early Thursday morning for his Pebble Beach trip.  What do you get when a bunch of men plan a trip??  No one bothers to see when Easter is :(  I was not a happy camper and it was a long, lonely weekend (but makes me thankful for all the other holidays we do have together...and makes me wonder how single, working parents do it solo!) so I'd planned a fun day for Reid and me on Saturday.  Much to my dismay, a huge line of thunderstorms woke me up in the wee hours of the morning.  The rain sounded like it'd pound through the roof, the thunder shook the entire house, and I'm pretty sure there was a little hail in there somewhere (I KNOW there was hail on Sunday morning when we were getting ready for church!).  But the Craig Ranch neighborhood egg hunt did happen.  We ran to Dollar Tree for a cheap basket since it would be muddy, and we pulled up at just the right time, but someone decided to start the egg hunt early.  We literally ran there and Reid was two inches away from a blue egg before some little brat swiped it.  SO I decided we'd hang around for the next hunt.  Reid bounced in the bounce house to his heart's content, but had a big boogie (and all my stuff was in the car since I had no pockets and didn't want anything muddy).  We ran to the car right quick, warranting me a slap on the arm for removing him from the bounce house.  So he was in time out for a minute before we headed back for the 10:30 egg hunt.  BUT someone decided to start it early once again...and we ran to make it there just in time for absolutely nothing.  At that point, it was cry in the car and go home, or be sure we joined the last hunt.  Reid was content to run around on the rock paths and look at the fountain, so I made SURE we were lined up and ready to go a good 10 minutes before I even thought they might start it.  He still didn't really understand the whole picking up the eggs and putting them in his basket until I did three for him, but it was still fun.  I think he enjoyed "Chikfiway" (Chick-fil-A) and his favorite yellow slide even more.  And I got a yummy, free meal thanks to their generous education program at school since my class won the last month :) 

Terrible Twos...Turning to Terrific Threes?

Well, we can dream, right??  I would love, love, love to think that the terrible twos were indeed turning into the terrific threes, but I hear otherwise from all kinds of parents lately.  "Oh, you think two is bad?  Just wait until three!!"  Eek.  But we will take what we can get for now...and it's slowly getting better, for the most part.  Unless you count potty training.  I'm pretty sure Reid is on the thirteen year plan.  But hopefully, we'll get there.

He is more open to certain things.  I've realized a lot of it is how you present it (yes, the teacher thing has definitely helped me out!) or just what mood he's in.  We've been trying to get him to wear these adorable dinosaur slippers for months.  But when we called them monster feet, he was on board!  Or, maybe it was just a good stall tactic before bath time.  He's gotten awfully good at stalling...for everying!  (Yes, Mom...I know...it's payback, right?)  Don't you love the outfit??

He enjoys helping us a lot lately.  It has to be HIS idea, of course, but he has definitely gotten more open to the idea when we ask, too.  Sometimes, I'd rather him not be helping (such as when I am getting breakables out of the dishwasher--it's like he's attracted to all the glass and plates!).  But other times, it's perfect--like when he was helping Jason do yard work.  He was pretty good at helping put the weeds into the bucket!

He is getting slightly better at eating fruits and vegetables.  I can now coerce him to eat strawberries, mandarin oranges, and broccoli (thank you, cousins!!).  Dessert is often used as a bribe.  It's funny, though, because he still doesn't like some of the things most kids would die for...such as this mini Drumstick.  Look at that face!  He does like plain ice cream, and has been talking about ice cream cones (then again, he is kind of obsessed with naming solid shapes recently) so I thought for sure he'd love this.  Wrong!

He loves Cars 2 and I finally found a cute Finn McMissile shirt for him on Amazon.  Not surprisingly, he wants to wear it every. single. day.  Maybe I should've ordered seven--one for each day of the week.  He just recently rediscovered his glowy seahorse that he absolutely loved as a baby.  It was really sweet because when he picked it up, he got this nostalgic look on his face and kind of hugged it.  

This video was too funny not to share.  Reid loves balls...soccer, baseball, basketball, football...you name it.  He has a decent throwing arm, but he really can't catch yet.  At all.

Our little guy is definitely growing up.  We are thankful that he seems to be turning the corner on some things, and looking forward to many more good things to come.  Parenting is most definitely a humbling experience, but we couldn't think of a more rewarding job. 

Spring Break

 Spring is officially here...or is it??  Today, it's very windy and was a whoppin' 38 degrees when we woke up!  It was a long walk to church since our "dirt lot" was closed due to yesterday's rain.  Fortunately, Spring Break had lovely weather.  We decided to start it off with a much-needed trip to the Asian market on Legacy...which of course means that we have to have lunch at Umeko.  Salmon sashimi and sushi roll, anyone?  On to the Asian market, where we stocked up on the goods to make bahn mi, our new favorite recipe for a Vietnamese sandwich, for when Laura came.  I also had to make laksa and send the goodies home with her so she could make it, too.

Aunt Lala and the cousins arrived on Monday afternoon.  I was so excited to see them!!  I had gotten Reid so pumped up that he almost couldn't take a nap ;)  They arrived and got settled, and once Reid was awake, we took off to go to the boys' favorite park from last summer.  But much to our dismay, the playground was completely taken apart as they'd begun renovations.  It was a bummer, but the good news is that it should be totally renovated, including covered areas by the splash pad, by this summer.  So instead, we headed down the tollway to another neat playground in Plano.  They boys ran around and played for about 15 minutes, Ben asking to explore down a sidewalk trail.  But it was Reid and Alex who took off into the woods for a spur of the moment hike.  Playground?  Who needs it??  Hiking? Yes, please!  So off we went, through the mud and all.  The boys had so much fun that we ended up hiking Tuesday and Wednesday, too, at their request! 

After a fun-filled afternoon of hiking and playing in the backyard, it was time for a traditional bath picture, or ten.  I never did get all of them looking and smiling, but the ones we snapped were priceless!

 No, that's not anything gross in the bath water.  I found bath fizzies at the store and thought it'd be fun for the boys.  We went from yellow water (yes, it totally looked like pee) to green water to purple water.  Great fun!

It was so cute the second morning when I went in Reid's room...usually he will say, "Hi Mommy!" or "See Daddy!", but this time he was jumping to get out of bed and yelling, "COUSINS!  COUSINS!!  SEE COUSINS!!"  I could barely convince him to go potty and wash his face before he was bolting down the stairs to see them.  We attempted to go to the Grapevine aquarium (and Legoland was just across the mall) to use the buy one get one free coupons I'd gotten at school.  "Madhouse" doesn't really begin to describe it, so we opted out after seeing the line to get in, which was at least a 2 1/2 hour wait.  No thanks!  We walked around some to see if there was anything else fun to do.  There was a very cute carousel, so we all paid and hopped on to take a ride.  I think Reid and Alex enjoyed the Disney-like teacup more than anyone! 

 Then it was on to Cici's Pizza for free kids' lunches (more coupons from school) and fun at the video games.  Reid loved the claw machine (maybe it reminded him of that scene in his new favorite movie, Toy Story) and carried his five "treasures" all around.  Home for nap time, then we went to Town Lake Park in McKinney to feed the ducks.  Of course, we ended up veering off the pavement onto an unpaved trail to hike before having to herd everyone home for dinner.

On Wednesday, when we asked the boys what they wanted to do, we weren't surprised at all when "hike!" was the answer once again.  We packed the boys some sandwiches and grabbed Subway for ourselves, then it was back to Arbor Hills park in Plano.  This time, we bypassed the playground and went straight for the hiking.  I was a little worried Reid would poop out pretty fast at the rate we were going, but he went strong for two hours.  The boys were so funny--they even took turns on picking the trails, yelling, "This way!!" Our little hikers in front of a pretty red bud tree:

 My little Energizer bunny ran out of steam quite suddenly and fell behind everyone.  It seemed like everyone was beginning to run out of steam, so it seemed to be time for lunch.  We were looking for a nice, big rock or something we could sit on, but nothing was quite right for us adults.  As we searched, everyone got a little more whiny.  I even had to pick Reid up and carry him for awhile, several times.  Then we stumbled upon the most perfect lunch spot...the beautiful lookout (complete with covered area and a bench) where you could see all around the entire park, and even way down into Plano.  It's still hard to believe this park, with its streams, hills, valleys, plains, and woods, is in the middle of a suburban city.

Everyone was pretty tired after all that hiking (even Laura and me!), so it was a pretty quiet ride home.  We were surprised that no one fell asleep in the car.  Laura was kind enough to stay an extra night so that Jason and I could go to the Muse concert.  A sub of his had gotten us tickets, so we met everyone at American Airlines Center, enjoyed a nice meal at Victory Tavern, and headed over to the concert.  I'd never been in a suite before, so that was neat, too.  We had a great view of the light show during the concert, as well!  The opening act, Screaming Sarah, was about as good as the name sounds (bad!).  But Muse put on a great concert!

In the meantime, Laura managed to coerce two of the three boys into the funny little mustaches I'd gotten for them (Reid was not on board)...which was perfect with Ben's Darth Vader mustache shirt. 

 

Aunt Lala (who is beginning to turn into "Aunt Lowa") and the boys had to leave on Thursday morning, all too soon.  I was so glad they could come up and we could enjoy our Spring Break together.  Laura and I had great sister time together, the boys had fun playing and hiking together, and we adults enjoyed some yummy food together.  Laura introduced us to truffle oil and made a wild mushroom pizza one night (it was so good that I already made it last night!)  Makes me want summer to come that much sooner so we can all visit each other and play again!  And, hopefully, Reid will be able to share a little bit better by then ;)

First Scooter

Little man has been quite the sleepy head lately.  Most mornings, I've had to wake him up (eek!)...must be payback, right Mom?  I have never, ever been a morning person, but mornings now aren't quite as bad as they used to be, probably because I pretty much turn into a (snoozing) pumpkin by 10pm.  Naptimes have been a different story, however, and he averages one a weekend, now.  Right now, we can hear the squeals and giggles from downstairs.  And yes, he will be even wilder later...quite the opposite of what you would think ;)

 Lucky us...we happened upon a dumpster miracle on Sunday afternoon.  After church, we had stopped at the grocery store to buy a couple of things for bahn mi that I'd forgotten (I know...you're shocked that I forgot something, aren't you??).  On the way out of the parking lot, I swore I saw a scooter and a "lean back" trike at the dry cleaner's dumpster.  We circled back, and sure enough there was a little Reid-sized toddler scooter and trike!  His legs aren't quite long enough to reach the trike pedals on the convertible trike just yet, so I had been wanting him to try one before we actually spend money to go buy one.  He was more excited about the scooter, so we went to Wal-Mart and got him a little helmet last Sunday.  We kind of ran out of time because we took him to Towne Lake park to feed the ducks, but he was more interested in hiking one of the little trails in the woods.  He literally ran the whole trail, which was about a mile, so Jason and I got a decent little walk in, too!  But by the time we did that and fed the ducks, it was nearing his dinner time.  The scooter had to wait until Tuesday afternoon.

The video will not post for some reason, but it was really cute to watch him.  He was a little bit impatient as I adjusted the helmet for the first time, but begrudgingly wore it when I said, "No helmet, no scooter!"  I've never been a fan of Spiderman (or any Marvel stuff, for that matter).  Nothing personal against them/it, but let's just say that I've had SO many bad kids at school in the past who love Spiderman that it's kind of ruined for me. But who can pass up a gently used freebie?  A little Lysol, and we were good to go. Right off the bat he fell several times, but hopped right back up, yelling, "More!  More!"

The really funny part was when he decided he couldn't go fast enough.  "Mommy, help!  Go fast!!"  So I gave it a little whirl and kind of teetered behind him.  My thinking?  If it broke the free scooter, no loss.  Reid squealed with delight while I worked muscles that haven't been used in years.  But I have to lean down so far that it's not exactly ideal for my back.  We had fun, though!

I also discovered that corduroys were not exactly the appropriate attire for his ride.  These were my favorite little cargo pants of his, but the knees were worn down within five minutes.  I can see we will have many ripped knee jeans in our future :)  Reid also tried out the Harley trike, but it was a little more difficult for him and he didn't really get the part where you have to push the pedals, not have Mommy push you the whole time.

February Fun

February has been furiously fast.  Not sure where the time has gone...but we've managed to squeeze in a little fun with all the busyness.  Someone will (finally) wear the Cars slippers Santa brought him.  I couldn't resist a few pictures, especially with his matching shirt.  One day when we were running errands, I realized he had a Cars hat, Cars shoes, this Cars shirt, Cars sunglasses, and we went to buy new shoes at Payless (Cars, of course...but the new ones light up!).  This kid sure loves his Cars stuff.

 Soon after the cute pictures, I (attempted) to start dinner.  Anytime I do that, it's pretty much a guarantee that someone will make some mischief.  It got very quiet, and suddenly I heard some wailing followed by, "Hep! (help)  Hep me!  Hep me, Mommy!!!"  I couldn't help but giggle when I came upon this scene.  And, as every great mom would do, I had to get out the camera.

 

 Reid still didn't really "get" Valentine's Day this year, but he thought it was fun to hand his goody bags to the girls at Holli's house.  Our playgroup's Valentine's party got cancelled this year, so that was about the extent of it for us.  Reid enjoyed his present from Mommy--a lip whistle!

Oh, Loverboy....

He also had a blast with the Valentine's package from Aunt Lala and his cousins that arrived a couple of weeks ago.  It had Cars 2 cars, which he immediately lined up, a cute sticker card (we actually saved that one for Valentine's Day...he couldn't wait to open the rest!), and window stickies (in the background, you can see some of the winter ones he still plays with).  This kid loves getting mail!  His card from Great Grandma Will was a cute truck with hearts in it, and he wanted to read it ("Book! Book!" he called it) over...and over...and over.  And Grammy and Grumpy's card was perfect--Lightening McQueen with new Cars stickers.  He liked them so much that he couldn't wait to use them.  The first page of stickers ended up on the envelope!

Woo-hoo!  It's Friday!!

Last Sunday, we headed to Frisco for cousin Harrison's second birthday party.  It was a cute Mickey theme and Reid was all about the ice cream cake. Reid went ape over one of Harrison's gifts, a Cars slide/racetrack.  We had to pry him away, but Harrison, being his sweet self, didn't seem to mind.

I was very worried about how crazy he would be since we get out of church at 10:30...and the party was at noon.  So no time for a nap (eek!).  He did pretty well until we left at 4:30, probably about the time of the sugar crash.  I couldn't even get a non-blurry picture!  We got in the car and he was out within five minutes, so we drove around a little and quietly parked/unloaded the car.  He even slept through that and another 10 or 15 minutes, then woke up in a horrible mood.  

It has been fun the past few weeks because Reid seems to have matured some and is more willing to use his words instead of whining as much.  We get to enjoy him randomly singing things, such as his own rendition of "No, no, no, no nonono" to the tune of the Friskies commercial song, which I made up last year when he was in the "NO!" phase.  This morning when we got ready to walk from the car to church, he decided he wanted to wear his little backpack for the first time.  How cute is this?

He is still hard to understand sometimes.  I've noticed his l's and r's sound like /w/ or /y/, so Holli is "Hohyee" and there are a few other sounds and words that are odd (lemonade is "nemonade" or "nimeade", spaghetti is "pasketti" etc.).  He also makes up his own little jokes and games.  Here's a snippit of the daily bucket-head game he likes to play when we've made bridges out of all his Legos.

And he's still very, very particular (gee...wonder where he got that?? ;)  about certain things.  He hates to have anything on his hands.  If it were up to him, we'd probably go through a box of wipes during every meal.  If you move any of his cars he has lined up, he is quick to fuss, "Noooo!" and promptly put it back where he had it.  Only Daddy can help him wash his hands and he only wants to hold Daddy's hand when all three of us walk in parking lots (thankfully, that 'rule' doesn't apply when only Mommy is there).  He has to have his granola bar to carry in the car each weekday morning...but only Holli can open it.  After he goes potty, he wants a candy...but only the green ones.  So funny!  I try to make some kind of note about his quirky little behaviors because I know they won't last forever, and they are so cute right now. 

As we continue to wait to see if God will bless us again, I try to concentrate on this time in his/our life.  I know he won't ever be this age again.  It's trying on a day to day basis--I hate that I'm already exhausted and low on patience after teaching 18 kindergarteners all day.  But what a neat age he is in, and I love hearing and seeing the new things he comes up with each day.  We love our crazy little guy and are thankful for God's blessing!  I pray that we are indeed raising him to be a godly young man.  Happy news related to that...(and thank you so much for your prayers!) he did get a spot in the preschool we wanted!!  Jason gets the "best dad of the year" award because he camped out starting at 11:30pm after the Superbowl.  The class we wanted Reid to be in (Tues/Thurs) was full, but when they found out Jason had been there all night, they opened up the "save" spot.  We are so excited he will be in the wonderful Christian program, which conveniently happens to back up to my school's playground.  And we are so thankful for a former teacher from my school, who is willing to stop by Holli's to get him/drop him off twice a week.  Best news we have had in a while! :)

January Fun

Happy Superbowl Sunday!  I remember when it used to be early in the day and folks would skip church just to watch football.  (Now, it's so commercialized that no one would dream of putting it at anytime except prime time!)  Makes me even more thankful for the Truth and biblical teaching we have the honor of hearing each Sunday at our church.  Our pastor just happens to be Chuck Swindoll (yes, the Swindoll of Insight For Living.  Thank you, Mom, for discovering that he preaches weekly in Frisco, TX :) 

Our little guy just isn't so little anymore.  It's such a cliche', but they really do grow up way too fast.  With all the Amazon gift cards, we finally bought Reid a kid-sized table.  We had to rearrange the kitchen and it's still not ideal, but he LOVES it.  And also can't really sit long enough for a meal, but has eaten waaaay better so far, for the most part. 

 Happy Groundhog Day!  So, bad picture...but sad (and not sad, because he's a happy, healthy, wild toddler) that he looks so old!!

Got milk?

  As far as coordination, it's gotten way better.  But there are those days where we just don't really know about this guy...  But boy, does he crack us up!

Then again...OCD??  He still lines everything up (and other times, throws it in piles, or just throws it...) including window stickers in various arrangements, and all his cars.  Depends on the day as to how he decides to line them up.

 

Jason probably doesn't claim me any longer.  I guess I've become a "Dallasite", as he's dubbed some of the women up here, with my Miss Me jeans (hey...they have bling on the bootie! That has Stacey written all over it!)  and I just purchased a pair of Ugg-type boots.  I say Ugg-type because I am way too thrifty to spend $250 on a pair of friggin' boots.  BUT I can see why they are so popular...my feet are always cold (they are warm) and they are sooo comfy...  But mine are Sketchers and were only $27 (shhh!).  He still hates them.  But someone else does not!

 

Reid is also still obsessed with Dixie.  He follows her around, much to her dismay, and really does try to win her over, in his weird, sweet, toddler sort of way.  His favorite thing lately is (attempting to) brush her and give her treats.  Mostly, it consists of screaming, "DIXIE!!!" and having her repeatedly hiss at him while I (again) explain that she doesn't like yelling.  But, secretly, I do think she likes him in her own weird sort of way.  Or maybe it's just the treats...

Check out this Air Reid shot!

And if you can afford a few short minutes of prayer, we are hoping to get Reid into Sunshine Kids, the competitive, highly-acclaimed (via word of mouth and by seeing the great kids that have come out of there into Bennett's kindergarten classes) preschool at the church just behind my school.  Tomorrow is the registration date for non-members.  Jason will be getting out there very, very early (we're talking 4am...or he might just head out there after the Superbowl is over...it's first come, first served) and I have taken a half day off to register Reid.  If it's meant to be, it will happen. The class we want is full, but there are a few spaces left for other two day classes.  Plus, God has taken care of transportion to/from Holli's with a fabulous lady I used to work with :)  We are so thankful!