Not Off the Map

Daddy and Cooper made a bridge for me to crawl under

We went to Logan's and Reese ate 1/2 the huge dish of mac-n-cheese
Daddy's little Yankee fan

The view from our seats

So it's been quite some time since my last post and I'll have to admit...my fault. It's been so nice having my family together with Dowell being on vacation for the last 4 weeks. I can't believe that he starts back to work Monday. Another season begins! We have had a lot of company in the last month. My parents, Nana and Popsie, as well as my grandparents, Reese's great grandparents, came to visit one weekend. Dowell's family, Mimi, Big Daddy, Aunt Darcey, and Keleigh came and spent about a week with us. It's nice to have family around and have everyone willing to help us out. It gave Dowell and me some time away and a few date nights! Speaking of date nights, Dowell and I got to go on a 'Mommy and Daddy' vacation...just the two of us. We spent 4 days in New York City. We went to a show, a Yankees game, and just walked around a fun city...a lot! We had a good time. Reese stayed with Nana and Popsie while we were gone and had a blast! I don't know if she even knew we were gone. As much as we love her, it was nice to get a little break.

Reese will be 11 months old tomorrow! Wow. I've been planning her 1st birthday party, looking at party supplies, cakes, pinatas, etc. It's so much fun! Dowell told me the other day, "I can't wait to see what you do for her future birthdays with all the time you've spent on this one." It's so true! I'm so proud of her. She's just becoming a little toddler. Right now she's all over the place. She prefers to be standing up. She will crawl, but once she gets to her destination, she's going to stand up on it. Doesn't matter if it's the TV stand or Cooper. She's trying to talk more and is imitating a lot now. We're teaching her how to call the hogs too. She raises her arms up over her head and grins really big! We have to say the "Wooo Pig Sooie," but she raises her arms every time. It's adorable. She imitates sounds and syllables too. Every time I say Cooper, she says "Da-ta" and says "tah-ugh" for thank you. She makes me laugh more everyday.

Change of plans

My daddy is blowing in my face...I like it

Standing up in my crib

My plan was to go to Arkansas this week to see my best friend's baby. However, I woke up Sunday with a head full of gunk and a tickle in my throat. It wasn't too bad and I thought it might just be a 24 hour thing. Well, I should have known that working 4 days last week with kids who had green snot running, yes running, from their noses would rub off on me. Monday I saw 6 more snotty noses and by Tuesday morning, I felt like I had been hit by a dump truck. Needless to say, I have no business around a new baby. I'm praying that Reese doesn't get it. My head is less stuffy today, but now it's mainly in my chest. Hard coughing and sleep don't go well together. I'm just trying to rest as much as I can.

As for Reese, we are trying to get her back on her schedule. With me working more than usual last week, she didn't get as much sleep as she normally does and was only taking one nap a day rather than two. It's a bit of a struggle, but I'm hoping it gets back to normal soon. She is moving around like a champ. She's got crawling mastered and pulling up is a breeze. I all the time catch her standing up in her crib when she's supposed to be napping. She can pull up on just about anything (e.g. ottoman, TV stand, bookshelf, bouncy chair, sofa, my legs, her crib, etc.). She's even doing handstands on the ottoman (with me holding her legs up, of course)!

Monumental Week

Sick, but still smiling

Mom's pretend photo shoot

Sitting in the rocking chair

Ham cheese face

Lookin' out the window

Face attack on Daddy

Playing with Cooper

It's been an action-packed couple of weeks, to say the least. Dowell is quoted as sayting, "It's monumental" and I have to agree. He and I have always felt that Reese has been growing and changing so quickly, but last week, she took off...and we didn't know what to think. We had her 9 month check up last Tuesday. She's still small for her age, but I don't think her parents give her much of a chance :) To us, she's perfect. We were glad to see her temp go down and by Tuesday afternoon, she was fever free and feeling great. Dr. Ladd was impressed when I told him that she was feeding herself fruit chunks and whole veggies. Yay Reese!

And remember when I said that she wasn't crawling forward yet, or pulling up, or feeding herself pancakes, or drinking out of a straw, or smiling big cheesy grins, or clapping all the time, or sleeping in her own room? Well nix all that. She does it all now!!! I can't take my eye off of her for one second anymore or she's pulling up on the TV stand, or crawling to grab Cooper's paw, or cruising around in her crib! All this happened within one week! We are so proud of her. She's getting around and knows what she wants. Her favorite game right now is "sit down, stand up". She holds onto my fingers and stands up, then squats down when I say "sit down" then stands up again when I say "stand up"...it's so cute and she gets so proud of herself. Every time she stands up, she smiles SO big. Her daddy calls it her 'ham cheese' face.

She also had her 1st school picture yesterday!!! I can't wait to see her class picture. From what I heard, every baby in her class was screaming and crying except for Reese and Collin. Reese was grabbing Emmy's face and one of the teacher's had to jump in the picture to try to calm them down. It should be a really good one. The photographer got a really cute picture of Reese doing her 'ham cheese' face. Oh, I can't wait.

We've had quite a busy week. I've been treating kids at the clinic 4 days this week. Luckily, Dowell was able to stay home with Reese on Wednesday so she didn't have to go to school everyday. They had such a good time together. She has been saying "dada" all the time now. I know that makes him feel good. It's nice to be home today and catch up on some rest...Reese and I both. Here are some of the latest pics.

Oh, and I almost forgot...we took Reese swimming for the 1st time! She loved it. Splashed and kicked around, smiled, squealed...we'll be going back a lot this summer :)

Good News

Reese is feeling MUCH better, I dare say she is 100% again. Praise the Lord! What a stressful time. I don't think I've ever asked the Lord to let me take away pain like I did last weekend. I wanted to fight the illness for her. I wanted her to be able to sleep and feel well, but I think it's times like those that force me to trust that God is in control...to have faith that He will heal her. Gosh, those 3 days felt like forever. But I am so thankful that He takes care of His children.

I feel like so much has happened since Tuesday, so here goes:

1. She is sleeping in her own room in her BIG crib.

2. She is clapping...any time she hears the work "clap", she claps.

3. She is feeding herself pancakes, sliced pears, whole peas, and chopped carrots and apples.

4. She has adopted a new smile, pictured above. It's a cheesy grin (her daddy calls it her "ham cheese" face. It is so stinkin' funny. She smiles so big that her eyes close, her nose wrinkles, her cheeks sag, and all you can see are her lower gums and 2 bottom teeth.

5. She is laughing more (I finally made her laugh!). When she laughs, I swear that the world stands still. It's absolutely the most precious sound I've ever heard.

We actually had a family moment the other day where Reese was sitting in Dowell's lap and they were watching Cooper and I play. Reese got tickled and started laughing...so we all started laughing. For at least 5 minutes we all played, smiled, clapped, squealed, and laughed. It was exactly what we all needed...a time of fun and togetherness that we haven't had in a while. I can't imagine loving anything more.

Bad News

It's been a while since I last wrote, but a lot has been going on. I'll just jump right into the update. Vacation time off has finally begun for Dowell, so he has had a lot more time at the house (let me mention that "vacation time" for him means that he still goes to work, just doesn't stay as long). Thank goodness that he has been here. On Friday afternoon, we noticed that Reese's head and body felt a little warm. She was a bit fussy going to bed that night and we thought that her teeth were bothering her. The next morning, she still felt warm, so I took her temperature and it was 100.7 degrees. I gave her some Tylenol and we tried to have her take it easy. Well, as the day went on, she became increasingly feverish and I just kept giving her Tylenol, putting cold packs on her head, keeping her covered, and cuddling her as much as I could. She felt so bad. She couldn't nap and was SO tired. That night, her temperature was 101.5 and she was having a lot of trouble going to sleep. I was so worried. She finally went to sleep around 9 which is very late for her. She woke up at 2 and didn't go back to sleep until after 4 am. Sunday morning, her temperature was 102.7 (axillary temp) and I could tell that she felt lousy. She was up at 6 am...not much sleep for us. I was absolutely exhausted and running on less than 4 hours of sleep. Dowell got up and took care of her for a few hours so that I could get a little more rest. Around 10 a.m., we tried to put her down for a nap, but Reese wasn't having any of it. She felt crummy. I was so worried about her fever. Luckily, our pediatrician's office is open for 2 hours on Sundays for acute illnessses. When I read that the axillary temperature is actually 1-2 degrees lower than actual temperature, I looked at Dowell and said, "we are taking her to the doctor right now." I'm so glad that we did because it gave us both peace of mind. Dr. Ladd assured us that she would be fine and checked all of her systems. He told us that it was probably a virus and just had to run it's course. We got her some popsicles and Motrin. Monday morning, her fever was down and she seemed to be feeling a little better. She likes popsicles.

Family Time

What a great weekend we had! Friday night, a friend of mine offered to babysit while Dowell and I went on a date, so we gladly accepted...thank you Andy!!! It was so nice to get out of the house and be together, just the two of us. The biggest change for us, having a child, is the inability to just get up and go somewhere whenever we feel like it. We used to go to movies and out to eat whenever we felt the desire, but now we have to think about nap time, bed time, feedings, etc. I wouldn't trade it for anything, but we do miss that time of being spontaneous. I'm sure our sweet baby girl, as she gets older, will love doing those things with us! Anyway, we got a much needed date night. We went out to eat at Cantina Laredo. It's a new mexican food restaurant downtown in an area called The Gulch. The food was delicious and the atmosphere was great too. We had so much fun and were going to go to a movie afterwards, but decided to go on a walk instead. It was so nice out, warm with a nice breeze (and we ate early enough that it wasn't quite dark yet). When we got home, Reese was already sound asleep in bed and Andy told us she was 'so easy'. Reese had a good time and was happy to see us when she woke up.

Saturday, Dowell and I took Reese to her 1st Razorback baseball game. The Hogs were playing Vanderbilt in Nashville, so we decided to take her. We at at Ted's Montana Grill for lunch before the game and Reese was SO good. She played with her toys, drank out of my straw, played with the straw, smiled, looked around, and tried to get the attention of a big group of people sitting at a table next to us. It was a gorgeous day for baseball. The game started at 2pm and we sat in the bleachers under the sun. It was hot, but it only made the cool breeze feel that much cooler! We were pushing it close to nap time and we only lasted a few innings, but we all had a great time. The Razorbacks won 7-5 and took the series too!!! Go Hogs Go!

Saturday night, we made plans with some new friends for dinner. One of Dowell's former coach's daughter lives in Nashville with her family. She and her husband have 2 little girls, Noelle 3 years old, and Julia 10 1/2 months old. They are beautiful little girls and Noelle is a character! She was waiting for us at the front door when we pulled up! As soon as we walked in, Noelle was looking at Reese and talking to us. All of a sudden, Reese just starts laughing...a lot! I mean LAUGHING! Noelle was just standing there smiling and Reese was staring at her and giggling so hard that she started squealing! Noelle began jumping around and playing peek-a-boo with her, which only kept the laughter flowing. It was at least 3-4 minutes, non-stop laughing! My stomach hurt from laughing at Reese's laughter. The whole night was a blast! As soon as we got home, Reese was ready to take a bath and go straight to bed. She was asleep before I even finished praying with her. Too much fun for one day!

worn out

Eating some chicken noodle

Cooper just lets her pet, pull, and chew on him

"Look what I found, Mommy"

We are still here. Last weekend was very busy. One of my very good friends from college, Barrett, got married on top of Petit Jean mountain Saturday and I have been looking forward to going ever since she got engaged. Dowell, Reese, Cooper and I were supposed to leave Friday evening, but more severe storms came through Nashville. It has been the wettest month! Anyway, we decided to get up early Saturday morning and drive straight there. Since it was a 2 hour drive to the wedding from my parents house, Dowell and I decided to stay in a hotel in Conway. We love staying in hotels! Reese and Cooper got to have a sleepover at Nana and Popsie's house, while Dowell and I stayed in Conway. It was nice to get a little break. The wedding was gorgeous and the reception was something out of a movie! I even got to spend a little time with Kristen and Trey.

The next morning, we got up and headed straight back to Nashville. It was a super quick trip! Reese did well in the car though. I sat in the back to entertain her (a.k.a. sing and hand her toys) and sweet Dowell drove us the entire way. Cooper maintained shotgun and we were one travelin' family!

Monday was busy at work. Reese still isn't taking naps at school, so she has to play 'catch up' at home the rest of the week. She's still getting good notes from her teachers! She is trying harder and harder to crawl and is starting to pull up on our ottoman. It seems like she does something new every day. We always say how we could'nt love her any more, but each day it seems like, somehow, we do.