TWO

Dear Reese,

So much has changed in the last year and I've watched in awe as you have grown from my little baby to a full fledged little girl.  It is equal parts thrilling and heart breaking.  I suppose I will be saying this for the rest of my life, but I have no idea where the last year has gone.  It feels like I just put you bed on the eve of your first birthday, and here we are celebrating your second birthday!  Just three months after you turned one we found out you would become a big sister to not one but TWO babies.  The next eight months were spent doting on you and spending as much one on one time with you as possible.  You were such a trooper through my pregnancy and took it easy on me as much as I could expect.  

We spent this year playing at the children's museum, hitting up story time at the library, going to our favorite parks, and just enjoying each other.  It has been a fantastic year! 

The weekend before your birthday your dad and I took you to the zoo for a special birthday trip.  You thoroughly enjoyed yourself and particularly loved the giraffes, elephants, and of course, monkeys.

On the day of your birthday you woke up extra early and were greeted with streamers hanging from your bedroom door.  I wish I had a picture of this but sometimes you just have to live in the moment.  Your brothers had just had a feeding and were snoozing so we were able to focus 100% on you. We came downstairs and opened presents and you dug into your birthday donuts.  

You were somewhat lukewarm when it came to presents but you loved the balloons!  We spent the day together and your nana came over to play with us and help get ready for your party.  We had a fun pizza party and opened present and you simply had a blast! 

Watching you grow is one of the greatest privileges of my and your dad's lives and we love you so very, very much.  Happy birthday to my loving, fiery, and amazing little girl.  "You are my sun, my moon, and all of my stars."

Love, 

Mama

Reese is 18 Months Old & Some BIG BIG News...

Back on January 29th, Reese turned 18 months old.  I really didn't plan to let four months lapse on here but when you find out you're expecting....TWINS.  Yes, we are expecting twins and I'm currently 23 weeks along.  We found out about a month ago that we are expecting two BOYS and we are crazy excited (and scared shitless...but thrilled).  Life right now is a whirlwind of excitement, planning, stress, and simply trying to soak in every last second of life with just our sweet girl.  I'm not gonna lie, these are big changes and my anxiety is through the roof.  It took a good two months after finding out we were having twins for the thought to even settle.  We will have three children under the age of two.  Three.  I really have no idea how I'm going to handle this but I'm not the first person to do it and at the end of the day, I just can't wait to meet these little boys.

Back to the original gangster...Reese is 18 months!  I am straight up loving this age.  She is so fun and legitimately hilarious.  Since her baby book is still sitting mainly empty, here are her stats so one day I can show her that her mama actually did keep track of this mundane stuff....

Weight: 22 lbs. 12 oz. (52nd percentile)
Height: 32  inches (63rd percentile)
Teeth: 12 and number 13 (a canine) is coming in.

Sleeping: 12 hours at night (approx 7pm-7am). We had a couple of weeks there where she transitioned to one nap a day, but since then it's been all over the place and we're still trying to figure out if she needs one or two naps.  Considering my exhaustion levels right now are bone crushing, I could really use a set nap schedule.  But we'll push through.

Playing:  This winter was simply brutal on a toddler and very pregnant mama, but we pushed through with trips to the Children's Museum, story time at the library, and your basic Target runs.  R has really gotten into coloring and she will spend a considerably long time coloring in her Mickey coloring book.  She continues to love all kinds of music, particularly Tom playing the guitar and the toddler station on Pandora.  R is super into babies right now, which is good timing since she's going to be a big sister in a few months.  Now that we've had a glimpse of spring she is back to playing outside and loving it.  She is still completely infatuated with Lily and loves to chase her around the house with her stroller.

Likes: Library story time (we moved up to the toddler class), playing with other toddlers,  reading books, music, owl straw cup, playing with anything mom or dad has, helping in the kitchen (making food, putting things away, etc), anything having to do with animals (particularly DOGGGGGIES), Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (which she has watched way more of than I'd like thanks to a rough first trimester with the twins and an evil winter) and her beloved snacks.  R really loves doing things for herself but always makes sure to check that mom is close by.  She has also become very interested in my growing belly.  She constantly asks me to lift my shirt up so she can see it, and then gently pats it and waves hi to the babies.  It is about the sweetest thing I've ever seen.  Tom has been taking her out on Saturday afternoons for outings to give me time to rest and her love and adoration for her dad has truly blossomed.  If Reese can't see Tom or isn't sure he is, she will walk around the house beckoning him by shrieking Da?! Da?!  Again...the sweetest thing you've ever seen.

Dislikes:  Car seat (I've just accepted the fact that she hates the car seat...but I'm not willing to face her forward on the off chance that it will improve things.)  diaper changes, being told no and redirected, doctor's appointments, having something taken away from her, mom and dad leaving for work, and generally being told something is off limits. Pretty typical toddler stuff.

Says: Reese really understands so much and can easily follow simple instructions (i.e. please throw that in the garbage, can you hand mommy your milk cup?)  Her recent lingo includes mama, da! (daddy), Yee Yee (Lily), there you go, all done, no, down, oh shoooow (oh shoot), do do (please or do that), hi, and doggy.  I"m sure there are other phrases I'm forgetting but these are the main ones.  She  jibber jabbers all day and I'm excited for the day that she starts to put it all together.

Reese continues to be fiercely independent which, as her mom, I both love and slightly dislike since that means she needs me less and less.  Although I think a small part of me will always be a little sad she isn't a tiny baby anymore, 18+months is totally my jam and I truly love watching her grow and explore.  I'm trying to savor as much one on one time as I can before we get closer to her twin brothers arriving.    I've had a lot of mama guilt about how bringing home TWO siblings at once will effect her.  I wrestle with major, major, guilt about all the changes coming Reese's way, but I keep reminding myself giving her two siblings so close in age are built in playmates for life.   Deep breaths.

Folly Beach and Charleston, South Carolina

Last week Reese and I had the opportunity to skip town for a few days and join my in-laws for a mini getaway to South Carolina.  Unfortunately this is a very busy time for Tom at work so he was unable to join.  I was a bit nervous about taking a 13 month old on her first flight alone, but she did just great.  I spent an embarrassing amount of time reading tips and tricks for traveling with a toddler to make sure I was as prepared as I could be and it was as easy on Reese as possible.  Overall, aside from Delta continuing to be my least favorite airline, everything went as smoothly as I could have hoped for.

Ergo carrier and golfish...required for a successful jaunt through security.

 While the mini and I flew, my in-laws drove down separately (I drew the line at a 10 hour car ride with my car seat detesting child...no fun for anyone) and they were able to take the car seat and a few other items that were too big of a pain to travel with.  This helped immensely!!  Our condo was in Folly Beach, about 20 minutes outside of Charleston.  I had never been to the area before and just loved it.  Here are some pictures from our travels, if you'd like to see.

Early morning walk on the pier...perks to traveling with children is you're up for the sun rise!

Our morning coffee stop...Black Magic

If you're ever in Folly go to Taco Boy...and eat ALL the tacos!  I heard their margs were worth writing home about too.

One thing I have learned in my 13 months as a parent is that whatever expectations you have, just throw them out the window.  I really thought Reese would go nuts over the beach considering how much she loves anything having to do with water.  So as soon as she woke up on our first morning we made our way to a foggy and windy beach for a little picnic breakfast (Lara bar and banana...so fancy!).   I carried Reese along the sand and stopped to lower her feet.  No go.  She practically hiked her little knees up to her ears.  This shouldn't be too surprising considering her love/hate relationship with grass but it was entertaining at least.  She had a similar sentiment toward the ocean....no thanks guys.   But as long as she could admire it safely perched in her mama's arms she did just fine!

                  

Not one to be deterred (all I wanted was ONE picture of my baby enjoying the beach), we headed back to the beach on our last morning, determined to get a few good pics on the beach.  At least I can say I got a few and she seemed to tolerate it (maybe even enjoy it?) a bit more.

my sweet girl

The rest of our brief trip was spent eating seafood, taking long walks, going for dips in the pool, and doing a little shopping and sightseeing in Charleston.  I haven't been one to mess with our daily routine too much (hello....first time mom) but I was so proud of Reese and how she just rolled with it every day.  She handled restaurants as well as could be expected and overall continued to be nothing but a joy.   Although we only spent a day in Charleston I would absolutely love to go back with Tom and spend some time there.  I feel like most of my time and attention was keeping my toddler entertained/safe/fed/happy/cool/contained, etc...so I didn't get to absorb too much of the city...not to mention it was crazy hot and crowded.  Charleston is definitely on my list of cities to visit again after this.

collage images via

One lesson learned on this trip was that a vacation with a toddler is not actually a vacation...who knew?!   All kidding aside, we missed Tom like crazy and although we enjoyed the new experience we were happy to be home.  Not happy to have brought a cold back with us, but what can you do.

One thing I will definitely do differently next time is take a buffer day off in between travel and going back to work.  We got home Wednesday night just in time to hug Tom and put the munchkin to bed and the sitter came bright and early the next day so I could go to work.  Not my best idea, but it was the only way I could fit it all in.  Now where to go on our next adventure?  

Reese is 3 Months!

This month our sweet baby girl turned three months old, and although I say this every month, I can't believe how quickly the time is passing.  This month she has changed so much and we have loved how she has begun to interact and engage with us.  Reese is so smiley and loves to coo and gurgle at us.  I never thought I'd make so many ridiculous sounds and faces just to get a smile out of a baby, but here I am.  I've gone back to work this month, and although it's been a rough adjustment, we are getting used to the changes.  We've work out a pretty nice schedule that allows for Reese to spend most her time with me, Tom and my mom.  It's a lot of juggling and organizing, and somewhat odd hours, but so worth it.  At Reese's two month appointment (she was actually 11 weeks that day) she weighed in at 10 lbs, 11oz.   Praise God, she is sleeping some longer stretches, anywhere from 6-7 hours.  She till has one feeding, usually around 3 or 4am, then most night she goes back to sleep for a few hours.  Reese is currently wearing 0-3 months clothes and they fit great...such a big change from the preemie outfits from just a few months ago!  Over the last month I have loved watching her become so alert and attentive to the people in her environment.  Thankfully Reese met all of her two month milestones, which is a huge accomplishment considering she was five weeks early.  And if my little baby girl could read this I would tell her, "Reese, you are my whole heart and we love you more than you can ever know.   You are our greatest joy.  Keep growing baby girl!"