May a little too much

To say I like Chick fil a, well that might be an understatement.

I guess this little story might help fill you in.

Greg and I went to Hawaii in September. Reese stayed

with Aunt Kristin and Nana flew in to keep her too!

One day they all went to the mall around the corner

from our house. The one that was close to my work

when I was working. When they pulled up and went in

Reese was yelling, "Come, Come Come Come" . To her that

meant "GO GO GO GO"! At this mall they have a playground

which she loves to play on. Once Nana

figured this out she got to play on it.

Well, they went to Chick fil A to order and the Chick fil A

employees said, "We haven't seen you

in a while little girl!" Nana was a little confused and they told

her they use to see me when I'd come in for lunch

when I was pregnant and then after I had her! Kristin and Nana

thought it was hilarious that the employees at Chick Fil A knew

who Reese was! It's probably because they have great

employees who never leave......it couldn't be me going

to Chick Fil A too much!!!!

Maybe I should look into

finding another favorite restaurant and branch out a little!

EAT MORE CHICKEN!!!!!!! :)

(by the way...that's where a great friend of mine took me for

my 30th birthday !!!!!)

Things that make Reese, Reese

1. Our back gate doesn't shut all the way and EVERYDAY when we pull away she demands that I "SHUT IT, SHUT IT, SHUT IT"! It seems to distress her that the door doesn't shut all the way!



2. Come/Go- She's a little confused with these two words. When she wants to go, she says "COME COME COME COME"!



3. Reese and I are very similar in that we both get frustrated pretty quickly. I've been trying to work with Reese and show her she can ask for help when she is a little upset. I ask her if she wants me to help her. I say,"Reese, do you want me to help you?" She has picked up on it and now she will ask me to "HELP YOU".

Apparently, we have you /me backwards too!

Just a few little things that make Reese, Reese!

Dad's luck.....

Since my last entry, Reese has continued to enjoy the potty. I think she enjoys getting

"cookies" (aka teddy grahams) after going. We are still wearing diapers because I can't bring

myself to put her in "big girl panties" just yet. She tries to get us to give her a cookie even

if she goes in her diaper. We've been explaining that's not how it works.

Our routine is the potty, lay down for the diaper

and then get a cookie. Well, one morning before church Reese had already gone to the

potty with the help of her dad. So he figured she could go around the house without a

diaper on for a little while. She would run into our room then

run down the hall into her room. We were almost ready when neither one of us heard her.

Which is NEVER a good sign with a 23 month old. So I went looking for her....I found her

playing in her room. When I walked in the room I noticed a very strong smell.

At first, I thought "Wow, the smell can't still be lingering from

earlier in the morning" and then that's when Reese spoke up!

Reese: "Ott, oh"

Me: "What is it Reese?"

Reese: pointing to the scene....

Me: pure laughter....."Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh"

Greg: running down the hall...."what what what"

in the corner of her room was a little pile of poop....

those of you who have dogs...

kind of like when a dog tries to hide it in your house....same concept!

I guess this is life and how it will continue to be! You live and you learn.

You trust and pray you don't make the same mistake!

And you just move forward. So, I must say after cleaning it up

(well, Greg cleaning it up) LESSON LEARNED!

Never leave a child un-diapered UNLESS you are willing to take the risk!

Potty, potty, potty, potty

We reached a milestone today! Reese and I had some friends come visit for the day.

Crystal (a friend from college) and her children Gracie (caroline, macy or anything else you'd like to call her) and Cooper came to visit. We met them for lunch and then they came over to play.

Reese and Gracie are about 3 weeks apart with Gracie being older. So Gracie brought her

"big girl potty" with her since she is trying to use the potty. Well, Reese was very excited

about this potty and wanted to sit on it as soon as she saw it. She kept saying, "potty, potty, potty"

over and over and over again! Finally, when we got home I took her pants off and let her sit on it

just to see if anything would happen. She was just sitting there "talking" to me about the potty.

I asked her if she was tinkling and she nodded her head. Then she said, "all done"! I never heard anything

so I assumed nothing had happend. We got off the potty and what do you know....

she pooped and pee peed in the potty!

I was SO amazed! I took pictures but won't post them. I'll just show you the potty and

her sitting on it later in the day screaming! I guess it's off to buy a potty tomorrow and

we will see where this leads us!

The beach!

Our trip to Litchfield was a wonderful time. We loved spending time with all the

Hudgens at the beach! Everyone was so excited to see Happy and Nana.

We are very thankful they were able to be there and what a sweet time it was

with all the family. It's like Christmas everytime Nana and Happy come to visit.

I really love spending all day on the beach doing nothing! It's so much fun when

the little ones can actually play on the beach rather than just sitting there.

But there is a price to pay for that change, no more sitting on the beach

reading a book! It's a price that I am more than willing to pay! I loved playing with

her on the beach and watching her explore the water and sand.

Here are a few pictures from the beach. Happy and Reese reading together!

Nana and Walker

Reese, Nana and McCrary

Walker

Walker, Nana and Reese.....McCrary playing in the water!

Reese eating sand.
Little Reese

Playing with her beach ball

Reese and McCrary washing off the sand

Praying for Happy.....

Thank you Lord for watching over Happy today during his surgery.....

For being with the doctors as they operated so closely to such

important "real estate" in the body.......

For sending people to the hospital to be/pray with Nana and the family......

For providing such a great place and great doctors to take care of him....

For your providence........

For allowing family to be with Nana.....

For the peace you give all of us during difficult and uncertain times.......

For continuing to watch over him and help him through the recovery.......

Lord, you never promise things will be easy but you ALWAYS promise to hold us in your hands!

Thank you for that promise!

The last season

This past soccer season (2009) was the last season for me as head coach.
It was a great team to end with and a good year to end on.

I am so thankful for the many lessons I learned over these past 7 years

and will never forget ALL the memories. Here

are a few pictures of Reese with some of the girls at the swim party

they had at the end of the season!

Reese with a few of the girls!

Reese with Meredith (who graduate a few years back)...

trying a sip of lemonade and pizza.

Just tall enough to see over the table.

Reese and Meredith after swimming.

Reese with Meredith while Claire (meredith's sister)

swims up to them!

This is what the girl's learned to do this year thanks to

Carlyn. And this is what they taught Reese!

Reese trying to make the "Carlyn" face!! After just a

few attempts Reese is successful!