Reed David

We are almost positive that our new BOY will be named Reed David. Reed has been the only boy name that I have come up with that I really like and Chris couldn't come up with anything better, so it looks like we are going with it. And as it turns out, Reed means "red-head"...so maybe Reed will be our little red-headed boy.

I am having a little bit of a hard time getting used to the name David. It's never been a name that I particularly loved...but we didn't have any prospects for a middle name. When we were leaving our sonogram, Chris asked our doctor what we should name him and he said he liked David (that is his first name). Chris instantly said he liked that..."man after God's own heart." I thought it was funny because just that morning Will brought his Bible to me and told me he wanted to read about David. He had never asked me this before, but I later found out that Chris had just read him the story of David and Goliath the night before. So it seems like it was just meant to be.

I have to say it is a lot easier to get used to after hearing Will say it, he really seems to love the name and I think he may actually call him "Reed David"....when I tell him to say "Reed" he says "Reed David." Or maybe he just wants me to read about David? :)

I think Will also finally understood for the first time this week that the baby is not going to be in my belly forever. We talked about it for a few minutes the other day and he paid attention really closely...I could tell he was really thinking about it and when I finished, he tilted his head and said, "huh?" And then thought about it a little bit longer. Now he has been asking me when he is coming out. I think he will be ready when little Reed gets here!

Bob

Chris and Will are reading the Jesus Storybook Bible right now. Chris called me in there because they were looking at a page that had pictures of about eight different Bible characters on it and Chris read them to Will once and then he remembered who all of them were. He wanted to ask me if we had looked at them before and that's how he remembered them so well...but we hadn't. Yes, he is that smart! :)

Sometimes when he notices that we are trying to get him to "perform" he starts being silly because he knows we will laugh. Chris said after a few times of him naming all the characters correctly, he went through a few of them again and it went like this: "Peter...Mary...Daniel...Bob." Bob was actually Moses...but it did make us laugh. Good one, buddy!

I will admit that a lot of the things he says right now make me laugh even though they normally wouldn't be funny. There is just something about words that actually make sense coming out of a two-year-old's mouth. At dinner he said, "I dropped my napkin" and Chris and I both laughed. Now what is funny about that?

On Saturday morning, Chris and Will went to get donuts and and then went to the park. They were home before I ever woke up. When I did wake up, Will got very excited and the first thing he said to me was, "Mommy want a donut?" Hilarious! I cannot get it out of my head...I hope I never forget how that sounded.

And I will end with one sweet story. Will woke up crying before I went to bed a few nights ago. He was still half asleep when I went in there, but I patted his back gave him kisses before I left. He asked for "more kisses" three times and after the third time of more kisses, he said, "Thank you!" and rolled over to go to sleep. Sweet boy!

Returning soon...

Everytime I see my sad little blog I think about how badly it needs to be updated. But the truth is I just haven't felt like it. I am now over 17 weeks pregnant and have been sick for most of it. The last week or so has been a lot better, but I have still been extremely tired. And I have been working a lot since Christmas is quickly approaching. When I am not working, I do not feel like sitting in front of the computer to blog.

Sooo...that's where I am at right now. However, I do have several things I need to blog about. Chris had to go to Chicago for work a little over a month ago and I got to go with him. We did some fun things that I would like to write about so that I will remember. Will is also doing and saying a lot of funny things lately. I really need to keep track of this! I LOVE this age...it is so entertaining and he truly is like a little sponge right now...soaking up and remembering everything we say. We have been trying to take advantage of this in a positive way. So the plan is to return very soon. Pray that I can just find the energy to do it! :)

P.S. Chris has been blogging lately. I have been thinking about the video he posted. It puzzles me because this guy is supposedly an atheist. Atheist or not, he makes a good point.

My Doggie

This is the only kind of doggie I will ever own....

Big Brother

Impressed

People have always told me that Will has got quite an arm when they see him throw a ball or any other object, for that matter. For awhile, I wasn't sure if this was just the standard thing to say when you see a little boy throw, so I didn't think too much of it. But lately, people seem to really be impressed by his throwing skills. I have been starting to think that he does have a special talent.

But as of Friday night, I am convinced that he will be a professional baseball player. Okay, maybe not professional...but I think he may at least have a career in Little League (I typed Junior League first and knew it didn't look right...I will definitely need to brush up on my terminology if my boy is going to be a star). This is what happened on Friday night:



Yes, that was me yelling for him and saying, "He's really good!" And this was not a one time thing. My Uncle Bobby pitched to him for a good 10 minutes and I would say he hit half of them. Impressive, right?

First Day of School

Today was Will's first day back to "school"...he only had two weeks off, but it felt like an entire summer! :) We have had a fun time together and I am happy to say that he has not had many behavioral issues, but I really feel like he enjoys having other people to play with besides me when he goes to school...he gets pretty bored with just me. He is always excited when daddy gets home from work, but he has been especially excited for the last couple of weeks. I feel like he is thinking finally someone else to play with me! Actually, our neighbor (6-year-old boy) has come over to play with him several times...so that has also been fun for him.

Anyway, he was really excited to wear his big boy backpack and see his teachers and friends today! However, I was afraid he was going to fall apart when I dropped him off because he has been very attached to me lately. But he walked right into his class like a big boy! It helps that both of his teachers really love him....that is such a blessing!

As much as I like having the time to myself to work or run errands while he has at school, I can't imagine it being 5 days a week! I guess God has a few more years to prepare me for that. Chris was just saying last night what a special time this is for Will and me and that is so true. Dear God, please help me to focus on enjoying and making the most of our time together before it's gone!

Mini Me

I have been working in my office while Will is playing behind me. Suddenly I hear "cheese mommy....cheese mommy" and I turn around to find this:



He is now practicing his photography skills with the regular digital camera.

Family Photos!

We went to Dallas last weekend for Kristen's wedding (my dad's cousin) and we were lucky enough to have my friend Jamie of Jamie Coupaud Photography take our family photos! If you live in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, you should definitely hire her! Her specialty is weddings and she does a BEAUTIFUL job and has amazing prices...so if you know anyone getting married around there, check her out! I also took her family photos and you can see those on my photography blog.

Will was not in the best of moods since we had travelled 6+ hours that day AND it was dinner time. But I am still extremely happy with what Jamie captured! We had so much fun!

















She also took the photos that are in my new blog header!

Thanks Jamie!!

Not a baby anymore!

A few nights before Will's birthday, Chris decided not to give him his pacifier when he went to bed and he went right to sleep and never asked for it again. We only gave it to him for naps and at night, but I did not think he would give it up so easily. I am so grateful that it was so easy to take away...but it did make me sad knowing that his babyhood is quickly fading away.

Then he slept in his big boy bed for the first time the night before his birthday. Again, it didn't seem to bother him one bit. At first, he didn't even try to get out of the bed...when he woke up, he would just sit in his bed and cry for us to come get him. But now he usually gets out and cries at the door until we come get him when he wakes up. When will he learn that he doesn't have to cry for us to come get him? Or maybe he does have to cry for us to come get him? Anyway, he sleeps great and hasn't woken up during the night at all. He did fall asleep at the door for one of his naps last week when he didn't want to take a nap. I actually got a video of his fingers sticking out underneath the door...he slept like that for at least an hour...so funny!

And finally, he peed and pooped in the potty about a week ago! I haven't been seriously potty training him, but I do ask him a few times a day if he wants to sit on the potty just to start getting him thinking about it. He usually says yes, but he doesn't go...he just likes to play with the toilet paper (I have the training potty on top of the normal toilet). Anyway, I finally had the brilliant idea to take the toilet paper off of the roll and put it on the shelf behind him. I told him he couldn't have toilet paper until he pooped in the potty...to which he replied, "Bye bye, Mommy!" So I went around the corner and a few seconds later he did it! I was so proud of him. He did pee in the potty a couple of other times and then one night he peed on the floor right after he sat on the potty! I screamed (as if I had seen a mouse) because it honestly caught me off guard...which scared him out of going potty ever again! Actually, he did show interest in sitting on the potty again today...so maybe he will try again in a few days.

And because I didn't have any pictures with this post, I will leave y'all with a silly video of Will. This was last weekend when we got stuck in traffic driving into Dallas. We had been in the car about 6 hours at this point with only a break to change his diaper. We are so lucky that he is such a good traveller...especially with all of the trips we've been taking in the last few months!



Oh, and I guess I will go ahead and put the video of his fingers sticking out underneath the door while I'm at it...



This reminds me that I have been meaning to get a video of Will's favorite new phrase - "awwwwww man!" It is hilarious when he says it and hopefully I will be able to prove it with another video soon!

We had a ball!

Will turned 2 a few weeks ago and we had a ball themed birthday party for him at our house! It was tons of fun, but I have decided that this may be the last year that we do the birthday party at our house. It always seems like it will be so simple, but turns out to be so much work...even though I had lots of helpers (thanks Mom, Lacey, Brandi, & Staci!). I really like doing it, but when it's over, I feel like it just flew by without me really getting to enjoy the party (not that it was for me to enjoy anyway...but that is beside the point). I didn't even do very good with taking pictures this year...but here are a few I did take:


These were the invitations. It was a ball inside of a little box. On the inside flap of the box, there was a sticker with Will's picture and it said "Have a ball! I'm turning 2, y'all!" I thought this was the best idea ever and then I took them to the post office to mail them and I was told they were too small to mail! It made me very sad for a few minutes and then I decided that I would just deliver them to mailboxes myself. The funny thing is my cousin's mailman returned hers to my mailbox (mailed it back to me) with a stamp that said "postage required"...ha!








There were lots of balls to play with and Grandma got Will his favorite present - a bouncer. Lots of fun was had in the bouncer and we still get it out several nights a week. The older neighborhood kids even like to come over and bounce with Will!


We had all types of ball food - cheese ball puffs, meat balls, sausage balls, melon balls, spinach artichoke cheese ball, chocolate chip cheese ball, and cake balls.


Aunt Lacey made the cake with whoppers on it!


Will really enjoyed opening presents this year...but Pop and Lolli's card was his favorite thing to open (it sang "who let the dogs out?" and it sadly ran out of juice yesterday).

Overall, it was a FUN birthday! I am excited about all the future parties I get to plan but grateful that there is a year in between each one. :)

Best.Wedding.Processional.EVER

Yes, I do realize that I need to blog about Will's 2nd birthday party and such, but since I haven't even looked at the pictures, I thought I would share this awesome video that I just watched!

TWO

How can my baby possibly be TWO today?



Happy Birthday Will!!!! I love you so much that it makes my heart hurt!

Our Trip to Denver

A week and a half after Chris and I got back from Mexico, we loaded up the car and headed to Denver, Colorado to visit my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins! We had a really fun time and Will did awesome in the car both ways. We bought a DVD player for our car the night before we left and that helped a lot. He didn't seem to be bothered by the 9 hour drive at all.


This was our lunch break at Dairy Queen in Dalhart on the way to Colorado. Slowest Dairy Queen ever!! Don't stop there if you are in a hurry.

The first day we were there we went to the Denver Zoo. Will seemed to enjoy seeing all of the animals, but I think he liked running around like a big kid with my cousins the most.


Some of our crew at the zoo.


We saw a wildlife show with real animals and birds flying over our heads....Will was impressed!




These guys were probably my favorite of the day...they were swinging around playing a crazy game of tag.


And this one just sat below them exactly like this the entire time we watched.


Chris and Micaela...they were best buddies this time. Last time we went to Denver, Micaela was only 1, but Amanda was 5 and she loved Chris...remember this hilarious video? Amanda was more interested in Will this trip.




Grandma and Grandpa with Jessica and Amanda.

We spent July 4th at Kathy and Brian's house. They (along with their neighbors) put on a great fireworks show. It was the first time that I can remember being cold watching fireworks. It was pretty cool for the summer the entire time we were there (low to mid 80s), but I think it got down in the 50s at night. It was nice for a change.


This is the second time Will got to see his great great grandfather, Will's Pop's Pop.


Pop with Pop (my dad with his grandfather).

On Sunday, we took Will to a place called Tiny Town. It was basically a park with miniature houses and such in the middle of the giant mountains. It also had a little railroad around the park with a miniature train that we road. Will LOVED riding the train....he was so excited to get on that he could barely stand it.


A very small portion of Tiny Town.










Waiting for the train to start moving.

Monday was our last day in Colorado. We wanted to go to the Mint, but unfortunately the tours were full, so we went to the firefighter's museum instead and then we walked around the 16th Street Mall and ate at the Cheesecake Factory. That night, we went to a Rockies baseball game with the entire family. I don't think I watched any of the baseball game but still managed to have a lot of fun!


Chris and Will outside of the firefighter's museum in downtown Denver.


Will sitting on my grandpa's lap at the Rockies game...with my cousins surrounding him.


My family with all my cousins on my dad's side (minus Jeff, Lance, and Jackie).



On the way home, we stopped in Amarillo to visit our old neighbors, Mark and Elizabeth. They moved to Amarillo a couple of months after we moved out of our old house and we miss them a ton! It was so good to see them!

Back to life...

This is where I have spent the last week of my life:





AKA: Heaven on Earth!

Chris and I went to the El Dorado Royale in Mexico for our 5th wedding anniversary! This is also where we went for our honeymoon and 2nd anniversary...so it was our 3rd time there and it gets better everytime. I was literally giddy when I saw that our room was right on the beach. This was the view from our back door:



The little pool outside of our room was actually a "lazy river" that led to the big pool.


Here we are on the first night...so excited to be at our favorite place!

When we checked in, they gave us three vouchers that were each good for either a couple's massage, a candlelight dinner on the beach, or an expensive bottle of wine. We had no idea we were going to get the vouchers so it was a very nice surprise! Evidently it was a promotion they were doing when we booked the trip. Anyway, we opted to get three massages...so we did that 3 of the 5 days we were there. The best part? This is where we got our massages each day:



So almost everyday we woke up, went to breakfast (huge buffet that even had cheesecake...for breakfast!), read/took a nap on our beach bed, went to our massage, ate lunch, went for a swim through the lazy river, back to the beach bed for a nap, cleaned up for dinner, ate dinner, then went to sleep! Could it get any better?


The pool even had beach beds around it...this was new since the last time we went there! The first couple of days we were there, the wind was really bad right on the beach so we moved to the beach bed around the pool after we got tired of the wind.

The resort is referred to as a Gourmet Inclusive rather than an All-Inclusive because the food is delicious gourmet type food, but still free (well, included in what you pay to stay there)! There are 7 different restaurants to choose from and each one serves a 5 course meal. Some of the food is different...but very good! We ate way too much.


This was our dessert the last night we were there. We love it that our waiter wrote "nope to see you soon." :) Did I mention that the waiters, actually almost everyone that works at the resort, are the happiest people you will ever meet? They are so nice and friendly...and really try to do everything they can to make you happy.


And here we are the last night there...the night of our 5th anniversary! I am so lucky to have Chris to spend these special times with. He is such a great husband and provider for our family. I will never forget this anniversary! I love you, Chris!!

I was really nervous about leaving Will for a whole week...I thought I would be worried about him a lot and not be able to fully relax. But that was not the case at all. Once we got there, I was just so happy to be there with Chris and I knew Will was in good hands (thanks Mom and Dad!). This was a much needed vacation for just the two of us and highly recommend that every married couple with kids get away together at least once a year or so...it was so good for our marriage!

So who is giving me my massage tomorrow? Oh wait, back to reality... :)

Update: Since several of you have asked, I am going to give y'all the info for booking. First, go to funjet.com. Cancun (CUN) will be your destination (it is actually about 30 minutes from Cancun...but you fly into Cancun then a Funjet car or bus will take you to EDR). We drove to Dallas and flew to Cancun from DFW the last two times we went. If you fly out of Lubbock, like we did for our honeymoon, you will have a layover in Houston...and I would prefer to just drive to Dallas and then fly straight there without stopping.

Anyway, once you've selected Cancun as your destination, El Dorado Royale should come up on the first page of hotels. We booked a swim-up suite this time. Our building (#55) was the only one that had swim-up suites right on the beach...so maybe you can try to request it when you book or check in. After you have made all your selections, you should get to a page where it gives you the final price with insurance (you definitely want trip insurance). I always look at leaving different days because the price does vary for whatever reason depending on the day of the week you leave. Monday was the cheapest for us this time.

Once you see the price that you like, print that page and call Whitney Norman with Bell Travel at 806-796-2355 and give her the dates and flights you chose. She can get the exact same price through Funjet and can even take your credit card info over the phone, but I think it is best to have a real person to talk to rather than just booking on the internet just in case something goes wrong. For example, all the swine flu stuff happened right after I booked and Whitney kept me very informed by sending email updates. And if something does go wrong, you can use the trip insurance to book something else at the last minute...Whitney would take care of all that for you.

We only spent $150 the entire week...mostly on tips. We tipped a lot for our massages since they were free. We also tipped the maid a total of about $20 and $1-3 for each meal. We pretty much tipped everyone...you don't have to, but after you see how nice the people are, you will want to tip them too! We also spent about $20 to use the internet while we were there and we bought Will a shirt. However, we didn't leave the resort or do any excursions, jet skiing, parasailing, etc. That kind of stuff does cost extra...we were just happy to be not doing anything at all!

I think that covers everything...but feel free to ask more questions in the comments and I will answer!

Another Update: I just looked at the Funjet website and it looks like the promotion we got for the vouchers is good through December. Apparently, we got a voucher for each upgrade and since the swim-up suite is 3 levels up from just the normal suite, we got 3 vouchers.