Baby Baby

I previously posted how we have not left the house very much this past week and I have been nesting away. Cleaning clothes, bottles, binkies, toys, blankets, swings, and the car seat. I have been trying to clean everything I can before the baby comes ( the carpet, baseboards, windows, closets, pantry, fridge, kitchen drawers, and walls.) I am really getting excited to decorate the baby's room. I kinda like some of these ideas below.  I have also been trying to organize the toy room and the these shelves (picture above) would be awesome. We just cannot wait for the baby to come. Reese has been making her Valentines and I just can't wait to hold her. 

Let it Snow, Let it Snow

I can't believe how much snow we have received lately. I don't think I have left the house except to go to church. We have so much snow at our house that the dog disappears when she jumps into it. We have all been pretty sick this past week so we didn't mind too much not leaving the house.  Reese finally felt well enough today to go outside and she was loving the snow. She thought it was hilarious that she was eating the snow. As long as it's not yellow, I am okay with it:) I also have to add how grateful I am for wonderful neighbors and home teachers. I can't tell you how many times our driveway (which is a nightmare because it is so steep) has been plowed by an anonymous neighbor. I wish I knew who has been plowing it so I could tell them thank you and give them cookies or something. Also, on Monday night, we were all still pretty sick and our new home teachers ( I didn't even know we had new home teachers) brought over Old Grist Mill bread and soup because he had heard that we were sick. I kinda laugh at the thought of when I opened the front door because my hair was a mess and Reese had a snot bubble and no pants on. The dog was trying to get out and we just looked like a lovely bunch. I am grateful to be surrounded by amazing people that help each other out!

 Helping me do the laundry.

22 months

Another month has gone by too quickly. Reese is 22 months old and full of personality. She is very smart and full of love. I love how she will run to hug me and is so excited to see me even if I have only been gone for 2 min. In the past month, Reese has started singing lots of different songs, she can identify 3 colors (blue, yellow, & purple), she has learned her shapes, she can count to 2 (yeah, we are working on that one), and she can draw a circle. The other day I drew a circle and then pointed at it and said circle. I started drawing something else when I hear Reese point down at the paper and say, "circle." She had drawn her first circle right by mine. I was so proud of her and giving her high 5s and she just started jumping up and down saying, "I did it, I did it". She loves books and always finds a way to get Ron or I to read her more stories at night. She also has started making really funny faces. She lifts her eyebrows really high and I can't help but laugh. She is excited to be a big sister. We have been practicing a lot with her baby doll and now her baby doll eats dinner with us in the high chair, Reese rocks her baby to sleep, the baby comes with us upstairs, downstairs, and sleeps in Reese's room, we give the baby bottles, and Reese prays for the baby. As I have watched Reese with other children, I know she will be a great big sister. I am so grateful to be this sweet girl's mom and am blessed everyday by her love, kindness, humor, energy, and even the tantrums. 

 She was actually in time-out in these pics and it is really difficult to keep her there for a minute when she folds her arms and says "love you mama."

 Reese thinks she is a dog and tried to bite the bubbles like Sachi.

 16 pony tails. I am working on different hair styles:)

 She still loves going to the church and playing basketball, soccer, and just running.

 This is what she thinks of the fabric store.

Another Tuesday night at the church

Last Tuesday, we were heading down to the church so I could sanitize the nursery ( I am a little obsessed with sanitizing this time of year) and Ron said that he would take Reese to play broom hockey with the young men and young women. Reese was pretty excited and even had her own broom to play with. Reese loves going with the young women because she immediately has 10 friends who will chase her wherever she goes. 

With baby sister on the way, we have been practicing a lot with Reese's baby. The baby sits in the high chair when we eat, Reese will rock the baby to sleep and change the baby's diaper. So when we got home from being at the church, she went and got the baby a drink and then had to tell her how her friends were throwing her up in the air. It is pretty cute and Reese is so excited to be a big sister. 

 Reese loves her friend Hallie and was lucky enough to see her at the church. I am not sure how she can get these girls to throw her in the air over and over again, but she was loving every minute of it. Tuesday nights are always fun at the church.

The Living Planet Aquarium

A couple weeks ago we went down to the Living Planet Aquarium and Reese loved it. I really liked watching the penguins. The aquarium wasn't huge, but Reese was just so excited to see fish.

above: jellyfish

above: river otter

a super huge fish

There was a huge anaconda in this tank, but I didn't get a picture. It was kinda creepy.

Baby #2

I am so excited to announce that we were chosen to adopt another sweet baby girl. I was not sure what to expect when we met the birth mother, but I was humbled beyond belief. Since we began our adoption journey, we have met with 8 birth mothers and I have never met anyone that is so selfless and full of love. As we met our birth mother  and her family for the first time, it was a neat experience to feel the spirit so strongly as we talked about this sweet baby girl coming into our family. As I have prayed for this baby, I have felt many times, just how much Heavenly Father loves her and is protecting her. I have felt how special this little girl is and what blessings lie ahead in her life. We love this sweet baby and her birth mother so much already and we are grateful that we have been able to be a part of her pregnancy. As one who has never been pregnant, it has been such a neat experience to see the baby move in the ultrasounds. She is so beautiful and has lots of hair.
     I also have to mention another amazing part of this baby. About 5 years ago, after our infertility treatments proved unsuccessful, we started looking into adopting a Japanese baby. We found out the wait was at least 2 years, $60,000, and the baby had to be your first child. I realized we could not afford going through this agency and tried to contact my friends that lived in japan, but everything was a dead end. We then looked into adopting from China or Korea and found out that both adopting parents need to be 30 years old, so we figured we would try again when I met the age requirement. Anyway........ this precious baby girl is 1/2 Japanese, 1/4 Korean, and 1/4 Caucasian. It's amazing to me that not only did the birth mother find us, but that she moved to Utah to hopefully provide the best circumstances for this baby to be placed in our family.
           Like I said before, we are very excited for this baby girl to be a part of our family. We feel so close to the baby as we pray for her and talk about her all day. I can't wait to hold her in our arms and tell her how much we love her.

the stomach flu strikes again...

Last year around this time, our family was hit hard with the stomach flu and all three of us were down for a week. This past weekend, it seems that the stomach flu has struck again. It breaks my heart every time Reese is sick. It amazes me though how she can be so sick, but still be so happy. She wanted to lay down everywhere we went, so we made beds on her tramp and on the little step in her room. She is a great little cuddle buddy when we are not feeling well. Once Reese was feeling better, it seemed that I immediately started the vomiting and stomach pain.

 My stomach hurt so bad the one day that I just had to lay there and try to entertain Reese. Ron called to see if he needed to cancel his patients, but I told him that Reese was taking care of me and we were doing good.  She made me some lunch which consisted of baby carrots, frozen french fries, chickadees, cherrios, and chocolate goldfish. It was delicious! We watched the Lorax while Reese rubbed lotion all over my face (and hair). She then brushed my hair and put bobby pins all over in my hair. She covered me in her stickers and then brought me all of her blankets. Reese even tried to feed me from her sippy cup, which ended in water all over my face and both of us laughing. She read me her Minnie Mouse books as well as her scriptures. I am lucky to have one caring little girl.  I am also grateful for a wonderful husband who came home at lunch to make me some chicken broth and play with Reese. I'm sure the house looked like a tornado when Ron came home from work, but he just took over and let me lay down. I can't imagine not having Ron around to help me when I'm sick or when he's sick or just laughing together when we are cleaning up Reese's puke that had covered her bedding and floor and down the hall and in the bathroom and all over the both of us. Oh, the joys of parenthood, but I love it and am grateful to be a mom. I am also grateful that this stomach flu only hits us once a year. At least I am hoping that it is only once this year.

21 months...

I have always thought it was weird when a mom would say their child is 13,14,or 21 months old. I would think to myself, "why don't you just say they are 1 or almost 2", but now I realize why they said their child was13,14, or 21 months old. Reese changes so much from one month to the next and has learned so much since her first birthday, so it seems that saying 1 isn't good enough. Anyway, my new response for Reese's age is that she will be 2 in March. 

In the past month, Reese has started talking non-stop and in sentences. I love hearing her cute sweet voice asking me questions all day long. 

"Mama, where's Sachi?"

"Mama, want pizza?" (as she makes me food in her kitchen)

"Mama, where's Daddy?"

"Mama, let's go upstairs."

"Mama, Sachi want bone."

She has also started singing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star", "popcorn popping", "Stronger",  and "Jesus wants Reese for a Sun beam" (yeah, we changed the words:)) Oh, and she loves to sing the USC theme song. 

 Reese has also turned into gumby. She has started to the splits and can go all the way down. She loves to run and then jump into the splits. She loves to jump on her tramp to the "Stronger" song.  She is a pure delight to be around and I have noticed lately that Reese is going to be such an amazing big sister.  She is such a great helper and loves to help her Daddy take out the trash, help me unload the dishwasher, vacuum (she got a new little vacuum for Christmas that actually works), she loves to make her babies food and bring them drinks from her kitchen, and just take care of others. She has always been very sensitive to the feelings of those around her. She loves to make people laugh and is pretty hilarious herself. We are blessed everyday to have her in our family.

 This past month, we took Reese bowling for the first time and she had a lot of fun. I think she loved dancing to the music more than bowling though.