a blast in Branson

Neal and I have gone to Branson in the past a few times. We have always had a good time but I think it is going to become a more regular place to visit now that we will have kiddos to enjoy it with. There are so many fun things to do with kids. It is funny the things that we notice, now that we have a baby to enjoy things with, that we never noticed before. In the past we might see a show, do some eating and do a lot of outlet shopping.

Shopping definitely had to be done in short shifts on this trip. Reese can only stand so much and luckily they have a ride on toy about every hundred yards at the outlet mall. We got lots of cute clothes for the girls and my favorite would be the matching pink skeleton pj’s for Halloween. We did the outlet mall in two short rounds and did a little shopping at the Landing.

We headed to Branson Thursday late afternoon. We did the Landing the first night just as we got into town. We ate at White River Fish House which is Bass Pro Shops restaurant. It is on the lake and has lots of interesting things hanging from the walls to keep Reese’s interest including boats and moose heads. After dinner we walked through Bass Pro Shop, which Reese thought was the most amazing place she had ever been, and we then did just a little shopping.

Friday morning we cooked breakfast at the condo and then headed to do a little shopping at the outlet mall and then off to the indoor/outdoor water park. The park was fun but the inside part was kept at around 75 degrees and the water felt as if it was 40 degrees. So, it. Was. So. Cold! Reese was pretty uninterested in the water due to the temperature. She had a blast in the outdoor portion though. I wish I had gotten more pictures of her playing in the water but I was busy playing with her. It took less than a minute for her to fall asleep in the car on the way back to the condo. While Reese slept Neal and I made BLT’s with some tomatoes that we picked up from a roadside stand on our way into town…they were really good. When Reese woke up we fed her lunch and took her swimming in the condo pool. There wasn’t a whole lot to the pool but she had about as much fun in this pool as she did at the water park. We then went up and took a bath and go ready to head out to dinner.

On our way to dinner we did another hour and a half or so at the outlet mall. We then ate at a steakhouse. Reese was much more interested in eating ketchup by the handful then she was about eating anything else. She is turning into a finicky eater and it breaks my heart. I miss my baby that eats anything and everything set in front of her.

Saturday Neal made pancakes and sausage and after eating we headed out to the golf course for Reese’s first lessons. We stayed on the Payne Stewart golf course in the condos. We stayed in the Villas last October with some friends and their babies and I don’t know if we will be able to stay anywhere else. The location is great and the amenities are wonderful. Back to the golf lessons, this was the highlight of the trip for Neal and I have to say that Reese and I really had a great time as well. He taught her how to hold her plastic clubs correctly and they hit the ball quite a few times. I cannot say that she can do this on her own but practice cannot hurt and I bet in a year’s time she will be quite the golfer for her age. We then took a long walk to the club house and took some photos on the first hole, it is really a beautiful course. We headed back for Reese to get a nap in and then packed the car and headed home. We had a great trip and look forward to many trips to come as a family of 4!

a fun trip to Houston

Last weekend Reese and I got a chance to go to Houston for the weekend. I had a great time hanging out with my family and spending time with Reese. Although, Reese did not feel especially well. She had begun breathing funny and kind of wheezing and coughing the Tuesday morning before we left. Daycare called mid morning to let us know that she was having trouble breathing while her binky was in but it wasn’t worth it to her to take her binky out…silly girl. They said overall she had a good day just got very congested through the day. On Wednesday she was still sounding pretty bad so we decided to get her into the doctor before I took her to Houston. The doctor said that he thought it was just viral but that he was going to prescribe an antibiotic just in case. He prescribed Cefdiner (a penicillin), which she had been on once before. That night she began running a fever as well. We began the antibiotic on Thursday morning. By Saturday she was still running fever off and on so we were thinking that surely it was viral and not an infection since the antibiotic was not really helping out. When she woke up on Saturday she looked like this!!!

Only her face was affected. Our best guess is that she had a reaction to the penicillin. We stopped the antibiotic and started Benadryl. Being home with my 2 nurse parents during this ordeal really came in handy. Through the entire thing she acted a little bit clingy and a bit more fussy but she seemed to have a good weekend. When she woke up on Sunday morning it looked like nothing had ever happened…her face was completely clear.

Outside of Reese’s being sick we had so much fun being home. We ate lots of good food, had a big family get together, went swimming at a really fun pool, Reese did lots of swinging and did a little shopping for the new baby girl. I only wish we could get down there more often.

a very long time

I know I have gone way too long without updating and I really have no good excuse...life is just busy. Many things have taken place over the last few months.

First of all, we found at in late May that we will be having another baby girl. Honestly, we were hoping for a boy, just so that we would have one of each, but as soon as we found out that it was a girl we could not have been more excited. We have had so much fun with Reese and I know that it will be a blast for two girls to grow up together. so close in age. The new baby girl will be named Ella Brennan. We cannot wait for her arrival in mid October.

For Mother's day Neal bought me everything needed to plant a garden. This is something that I have been wanting to do for a very long time. We both have had so much fun with it. So far we have gotten a lot of green beans and two tomatoes. We have many tiny cucumbers. We have cilantro, basil and parsley that is ready but we have not yet cut any of it. It is funny how excited we get with each thing that pops up. We hope to have yellow tomatoes, tomatillos, squash, jalapenos, onions, egg plant and serrano peppers in the near future.

Reese is growing like a weed. We have noticed here recently that the rolls on her thighs, that we refer to as sweet meat, are quickly reducing. She is looking more and more like a toddler and no longer a baby. She is so much fun and each new development is a blast but it is sad that she won't be my little baby much longer. She is talking up a storm...more, dog, hi, hello, bye-bye, book, baby, whoa, ball, dada, mama, daddy, mimi, belly, bubble and she can also make the animal sounds for the dinosaur, lion, tiger, bear (she loves to growl obviously) and the cow. Neal has been teaching her her vowels and she actually will say a-e-i and then she stops. He started this as a joke and when she picked it up he continued it. Out of all of these words baby is her absolute favorite word as well as thing. She has mastered walking and has moved on to trying to jump. She began scowling and practices all of the time...Neal says she gets this look from me.

Neal and I were fortunate enough to have gotten to go on vacation last month. We went to a resort in Cancun, for a week, that we have been to twice before and love. We had a very good time but it was not without a few glitches. The first 2 and a half days of the vacation it was raining. Not only raining but pouring so hard that an umbrella hardly did any good. Since there was no chance of pool or beach time we spent the first day shopping. Shopping in Cancun is usually a blast but most of it is at an outdoor mall so running from shop to shop in the pouring rain wasn't my favorite. Being 5 months pregnant and walking all over in the pouring rain is also kind of scary. They do not use the best material on the ground for rain. There are very slippery tiles in many places. I ended up falling pretty hard the 1st day we were there. I luckily hit on my hip and there was no trauma to my belly but this scared us both pretty bad. Aside from some pain and a pretty bad bruise, everything ended up being okay. The 2nd day I spent at the spa having a pre-natal massage and facial...this was spectacular. Neal spent this time relaxing in the room reading. By the 3rd day we got some good weather and we could not be any happier. The ocean was terrible due to all of the sea weed that the tropical storm brought in but luckily the resort has amazing pools. I spent my time by and in the pool and Neal spent the time playing 27 holes of golf. We were both very happy people this day. The remainder of the vacation was very good. I think we both realized that week long vacations are going to be most enjoyable with our kids, in the future, and we will take long weekend trips together as we can. Reese was in great hands though. She had both of her grandmothers hanging out with her at our house for the week. They did all kinds of things including a trip to Eureka Springs, the Bentonville Splash Pad, the Springdale Aquatic Park and baby reading hour at the Fayetteville library. She had a great week. Coming home we both got violently ill, this part was miserable. I am not sure what we ate or drank but it was definitely bad.

Lastly, we have found a lot that we are in the process of contractually holding!!! We also found a house plan. Now that all of this is in place we are more eager than ever for our house to sell. Our house has been for sale by owner since February. We have had interest off and on but it has been remarkably quiet lately. We have loved this house but we are so ready to move on to something with more space.

My sweet baby girl is 1

Everyone has always said to cherish every moment because it will go by so fast...and it is so true. Reese turned 1 on April 12th. I cannot believe it. In the last month she has begun walking, quit drinking formula, gotten 4 top teeth and is clearly saying a few words. It is like she is no longer a little baby and now becoming a little girl. We are having so much fun with all of her new developments but it makes me sad. She is such a precious and sweet little baby girl.

Her actual birthday fell on a Tuesday. We woke her up by singing happy birthday. She scowled at us the whole time and did not want to wake up. We got her from daycare at lunch and took her to Chuck e cheese. She thought it was so great and we also had a very fun time. They sang to her many times at daycare and they said that she would clap every time. They made her the most adorable card at daycare with each of her school friends hand prints and names. For dinner we took her to a restaurant that we knew would sing. It was so cute, she was watching the waitstaff as they announced her birthday and then she looked around and realized that everyone was looking at and clapping for her and she put her face on the table and her hands on her head. Once they started singing she watched them and she clapped for them at the end, so cute.

The following weekend was her birthday party weekend. My parents, Neal's parents, my sisters, brother in law and nephew all came up for the event. We went out to Monte Ne on Friday night and then came home to celebrate Carrie's birthday, she turned 25 on the 17th. The main event was on Saturday. We had the party at the Little Gym. Reese had a blast and everyone else seemed to have a good time as well. The Little Gym was an amazing place to have a party, they do everything for you. It was truly stress free. Overall, we had a great weekend with all of the family in town and had a great time celebrating Reese's first year of life.

I am so thankful for Reese and feel so blessed to have another precious baby on the way.

So blessed

Reese is going to be a big sister! We are so excited that God has blessed us with another precious baby. After trying for so long to get pregnant with Reese and becoming pregnant after the second round of IVF we really did not know if we would have any more than one child . We knew that we deeply wanted two children and planned to go through IVF again if that was necessary. When Reese was around 8.5 months old we decided that we might as well quit being so careful not to get pregnant because it could take years and we really did not want them to be too far apart. Just over a month later we were pregnant! We are thrilled! We will be overwhelmed, for a while, I am sure. I am happy to get all of the diapers and sleep deprivation behind us and to move on to the fun stuff. I am almost 11 weeks. The due date is October 26th. Reese and the new baby will be 18 months apart, which I think is going to be so much fun. We will find out if it is a boy or a girl at the end of May. Of course, we are hoping for a boy but either way we are 99% sure that this is the last one. God is so faithful and we are so blessed!

Valentine's Day, my second or third favorite day of the year.

I know I have been completely delinquent with updating this. I have missed Christmas, New Years, crawling and pulling up. I am just going to tell you that all of this has happened and move on the Valentine's Day. Valentine's Day happens to be one of my favorite days of the entire year and this year was probably better than all of the others I have experienced (and Neal has given me many GREAT Valentine's Days). This year I have Reese though and Neal and I have someone to focus on making the day special for together. Plus, this someone being Reese is experiencing all of these things for the 1st time ever which is so much fun for us.

Before having Reese I knew that I was going to love my child so much but I never imagined that it would be this much. Valentine's Day is a day to celebrate love and we had a great time doing just that. She did get a few gifts...we got her a balloon, a Vday stuffed puppy dog, a piggy bank, a baby set of plastic golf clubs (guess who got her that), some socks and a card. She loved all of her gifts. She has played for many hours with her puppy, balloon and golf set. I love this girl so much and think she is the most adorable thing I have ever known.

Neal's 30th

I want to start this post by saying that I really do have the best husband in the world. He is such a support to me and this family and I don't know how I would do this life without him. That being said I really wanted to make his 30th birthday the best I could.

On Thursday December 9th I took a day of vacation all while Neal thought that I was at work. In reality I was running around like my hair was on fire getting everthing together for his suprise party that evening. He knew that his parents were coming in for the weekend to take him out to dinner for his birthday. He kept suggesting places he would like to eat but I kept telling him that there was a place that I really wanted to go as a suprise to him. I sent out an e-vite to everyone asking them to be at the Back 9 Golf Academy in Bentonville by 6:15 and that we would arrive at 6:30. Early in the day I put together a spread of food and picked up the cake and dropped it all off at the party location. I also did some decorating. My wonderful friends and sister (Ashley, Erin, Chelsea and Brandon) got there a little before 6 to set out all of the food and cake that I had made and dropped off there earlier in the day.

Neal's parents, Neal, Reese and I all got in the car to head to dinner. About the time when we were going to exit 540 we made him put a blindfold on and at that point he knew something fishy was going on. Once we exited the freeway I made a lot of extra turns to confuse him and I think it worked because he says he was very suprised by where we ended up and was so happy with it all. We all had a fun time.

The real reason that Neal's parents came in was to take care of Reese while we ran off to Miami for the weekend to celebrate his birthday in the sun. I have never laid out and swam in December before but I do think I will plan to do it again one day. It was such a relaxing and enjoyable weekend. We did a lot of eating, some shopping, some laying by the pool and swimming and even got a massage by the ocean. It was a great weekend!

For his actual birthday, the 14th, Reese and I brought him breakfast in bed. We also cooked him his typical birthday dinner, hamburger steak, sauteed mushrooms and fingerling potatoes. It was Reese's Christmas party at school that night as well so we took her to see Santa, which was a fun thing to do on his birthday as well.

All in all I think he had a good birthday week. I am so thankful for him and hope that I spoiled him enough for his 30th celebration.