Why I love October....

 It seems that each month I am discovering new things that Reese has not done before and it is exciting to me. Last year I was so excited to take Reese trick-or-treating for the first time, but this year, she actually enjoyed it. I thought I would jot down some of the things I love about the month of October......
1.) Dressing Reese in all the cute little Halloween outfits

2.)Making fun Halloween treats (thanks to pinterest)

3.) Getting "Boo-ed".  I still love the excitement of trying to drop off a treat and ringing the doorbell without getting caught.

4.) Painting pumpkins.  We didn't paint this one, but the ones we decorated were super colorful and had stickers all over them.

5.) Costumes. Reese was the cutest little super hero this year and she loved running around with her cape flowing.

6.) Another reason to see our friends. This is Reese's friend Charlie and they are so cute together.

7.) Our ward Halloween Carnival. The young men and young women in our ward put together a Halloween carnival for all the primary aged kids each year and this year was especially fun. There was a fishing game, face painting, obstacle courses, cotton candy, a balancing game, and lots of candy and food. Reese had a blast and loved getting lots of attention.

 At the Halloween carnival. Reese and her cute friend Meghan.

8.) Trick or treating with the cousins.... It is always so fun to see my nieces costumes and have the girls go to a few houses together. My mom being the amazing grandma she is, ordered pizza's so the kids could have some food before they went out and we could all be together. Reese walked into the first couple houses and I had to make my way to the front and grab her out of the houses. Luckily we knew the people and they didn't mind:) She loved knocking on the doors over and over again. She loved running from house to house and loved getting candy. It was so fun to see her excitement in everything that was going on. Halloween was just a fun magical night.

18 months....

 18 months old and I want to cry.  Now it seems that she is really getting older. She is talking non-stop and becoming more and more independent. I love watching Reese grow and learn new things, but I just hope that I am doing enough. I always pray that I will be aware of her needs and know how to raise Reese. She is such a blessing in my life and I hope she feels that everyday.
                                   So here are Reese's 18 months stats............

Weight: 21 lbs

Hight: 31 inches

Here is a little bit about Reese

Reese has so much energy and loves to run, jump, and dance non-stop. Ron and I were watching a movie the other day and Reese was just running circles around the couch. She stopped for a second and then started again and so I counted.......she ran 10 laps around the couch. 

She doesn't walk anywhere, she runs. 

She loves loves Yo Gabba Gabba (especially the Wiggle song)

She loves her "Ladybug Dream Light" when she goes to bed. (yes, I am a sucker for commercials. I am sure all you moms have seen the dream light commercials)

She loves reading books to Sachi

She went pee in her potty for the first time a week ago. 

She loves ice 

She loves M&M's and we have to hide them in the pantry

She loves books

She loves to jump off the couch or anything she can jump off

She loves the songs "Call Me Maybe" and " That's what makes you beautiful"

She loves flowers and balloons

 One of my favorite things about Reese is that she is so tenderhearted. The other day I was crying about something and Reese saw me. She ran and grabbed a dryer sheet and came over to me and started wiping away my tears and giving me a hug. I love my little girl. She is aware of how people feel around her and is always trying to cheer them up. Whether Reese has literally wiped away my tears or just metaphorically.........Reese has wiped away my tears time and time again. It is because of her that I get to be a mom everyday and have so much fulfillment.

Reese loves to play house.  That is the mail slot she is putting something down. She yells "mail" and then runs away.

Reese loves making forts

 Reese loves helping Ron find things to wear. Everyday she takes Ron's shirts out of his drawer and brings it to me or ron saying "DaDa".

 Reese thinks she is a dog.

 She loves to put on others shoes

 Reese loves to play with my hair

 Reese is officially in nursery and we stayed for the whole time last week. Let's just say it wasn't the greatest experience. There were about 20 kids and 3 teachers. Reese actually shares really well, but when every toy she touched was taken away from her, she started crying. There wasn't enough room for her at the table for snack time. I just felt so bad for her. I think I will have to go with her for the rest of the year until the big kids leave, or just bring her for music time until the new year.

 Reese loves playing with her cousin Isla

The Dirty Dash

The dirty dash was September 22 in Midway, Ut. and it was a lot of fun! It was fun to do this race with my mom, sister, brother-in-law, cousins, aunt, and fun friends. Ron was supposed to do the race with us as well, but we were having some problems with babysitting. We thought some of our family members could watch Reese or some family members would be at the race that could watch her, but everyone seemed to be out of town. We actually haven't had a babysitter yet, because we have so much family around , so we didn't feel comfortable leaving her with a teenager for her first time for 10 hours. So Ron missed out:(

 All clean before the race

 I have to say it was a lot of fun, but I had to not think about what I was doing most of the time because it was so disgusting.  We had to walk though slippery swamps that went up to our waist and you could feel the weeds getting stuck in your shoes. The fun part was the huge blow up slip in slide. I lost my beanie on that part, but that was the cleanest I had been the whole race.  Overall... a lot of fun and a lot of laughing.

Our weekend at the cabin.....

We went to the cabin last weekend and it was very memorable. We got to the cabin around 11:30pm friday night and Reese was so excited to see Isla. Ron, Reese, and I were sleeping on a mattress on the floor and Reese thought it was her own little trampoline. She started jumping away and laughing and by 12:00, she was wired. Everyone was trying to go to sleep and we were trying to calm Reese down. We kept whispering to her, "shhhhhhh". So she kept yelling "shhhhhh" throughout the night with her finger in her nose. She doesn't understand that we put our finger over our lips and not in our nose when we say "shhhh".  Anyway, I tried watching a movie with her and then she would get up and start dancing. I was covering my mouth and laughing so hard, so Reese would start to mimic me. Ron was sound asleep and Reese would jump on his back and start riding him like a horse. So 1:00 went by, 2:00, 3:00. Reese tried to go to sleep, but started crying and pulling on her ears so I thought she might have an ear infection. At 4:30, we decided to just let Reese play because she obviously wasn't going to sleep. So we pulled out all her toys, she walked in Ron's shoes, we ate string cheese, and watched the Lorax. Around 6:00. she was so tired, but just kept crying and tugging on her ears. I decided to just sit with her in the recliner and watch tv. She finally went to sleep around 6:30am and we woke up at 7:30 for the day. I have to say that we have never had a night like that, but the amazing part about it was that I wasn't tired. I think Heavenly Father blessed me with the energy and patience to take care of her that night. I enjoyed staying up with her through the night and laughing with her. She is seriously hilarious and I consider this to be our first slumber party.

 The next morning, Reese was a walking zombie, but was ready to go play. She loved feeding the squirrels and throwing pine cones. We went on a hike and she loved waving at everyone from above.

One of my favorite memories of the whole trip was just pushing Reese in the tree swing. She was so tired, but still so happy. I would push her in the swing then pretend that she hit me with her legs and I would go flying. She started laughing so hard that she was snorting. I love her little laugh and how happy she always is. She can make everyone in a room start smiling by her laugh.

 Reese and her Bestie. Reese and Isla are so cute together. They spent a lot of time feeding peanuts to the squirrels and blowing bubbles.

 Reese with Papa Tom. She loved riding on the 4-wheelers. We just went on a short ride, but Reese loved every minute of it.

Ready to try for #2

Yesterday we were notified that our profile was approved and published online. This means that birth mothers can now view our profile and contact us. Last time around, I was so excited to check our profile stats and see if we were contacted. This time around, I am still excited, but I am also a little nervous. I hope I can remember all that I learned from our first adoption. Here are some of the things that I learned from our first adoption.......
- the right baby comes to our family at the right time.
-failed placements give way for that perfect baby to end up in your arms. ( Reese is a perfect example of this)
- Be patient
- I do not have any control over the choices that the birth mother makes, but I can love them and hopefully be a good example to them.
- this is one of the most difficult decisions a birth mother will be making in her life, so be patient and understanding.
- Most birth mothers that plan on placing their baby try to prepare themselves as much as possible for that placement, but will need a good support team when their baby is born.
- pray pray pray
- "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him and He will direct thy path." -Proverbs 3:5-6
- Reese! It's difficult to doubt that the right baby will end up in our family when I look at Reese. She is truly a chosen daughter of God and I know that our Heavenly Father is keenly aware of her and sent her to our home.

And here are some things that make me excited for our next adoption.....
- We have prayed and felt the promptings that a sweet spirit awaits to come to our home.
- I have so much love in my heart and cannot wait to bring another sweet baby in our home who will completely melt my heart again.
- Reese will be the best big sister. She absolutely loves babies and wants to go say hi to any baby she sees. She is very gentle with all babies and is so good at sharing her toys with any crying child.
- I love being a mom! It seemed like I had awaited the day when I could stay at home with my kids and now that I can, I love it. I love getting Reese out of her crib in the morning, I love watching cartoons with her in the morning and reading books, I love watching every milestone and finding new ways to teach them. I can't wait to do this again and I know I will also have a good helper with the baby.
-Speaking of helper, I have to mention what a good helper Reese will be. I made some baby cribs a few weeks ago for Reese's babies and it is so cute to watch her. She will get her baby and pretend she's feeding them and then get the booger sucker and try to get the baby's boogers. Wrap the baby in a blanket and pat her back.
-Even though sleepless nights are not always fun, to me, they are the most memorable. I love those nights that I can just love and cuddle and rock our baby to sleep. Special bonding time.
- Although the adoption process can be a trial, I know that my testimony will grow so much as I trust in my Heavenly Father and listen to the Holy Ghost. The process truly changes me for the better and I become a more loving, patient, prayerful, and humble daughter of God.

17 months

17 months has gone by way too fast and I am loving every stage. Reese is learning so much and I have been so impressed with her ability to pronounce words and how much she remembers. She says new words everyday, but I am very proud that she almost always says "please" and "thank you". She loves books and constantly wants to sit on your lap and have you read to her. Her favorite book is "Goodnight Moon" and she takes it everywhere. Ron and I have it memorized and just start to recite the book as she turns pages in random order. She loves balloons and flowers and finds them wherever we go. She finds balloons in every grocery store we go to and she gets so excited sometimes that random people will give her their balloon. Reese loves to dance and is very coordinated. She impresses me with her rhythm and is very strong. She loves to jump and is completely fearless. It is so funny when she jumps off the couch onto her beanbag. She will yell "ready, set, go" and then fall or jump onto her bean bag. Reese is really tough and hardly ever cries when she falls, but gets right back up and continues to run. She runs everywhere she goes and is constantly trying to climb something. I love her spunk and excitement for life.

She loves pizza

It is so funny to me that Reese is insistent on wearing certain clothing already. She wants to wear her ladybug  leggings and her flower thermal shirt everyday. If she sees her pants or shirt, she will take off her clothes and try to put on her ladybug pants and flower shirt. We started just letting her wear this outfit for pajamas so she can wear them almost everyday.

Another favorite of Reese's are these Dip n Dots. It's funny how when I was growing up, I always wanted to get some at Lagoon and Fairs, but my mom never let us because they were too expensive and now we can buy them in the store for a $1. Reese loves them when her molars are coming in, which means we have had them almost every night this week:)

Reese loves to play dress up. She found this bike helmet and tutu in her closet and wanted to wear it all day long. ( Notice her ladybug leggings:)

Reese loves watching USC football with Ron and is so good at yelling USC and raising her hands when they score a touchdown.

 Reese loves her big puppy Sachi. They are best friends and Reese loves to give her hugs and constantly patting her. I love that Sachi is so submissive to Reese and is protective of her.

Weber County Fair

A couple weeks ago, we went to the Weber County Fair and had a fun time. Reese loved all the animals and we were lucky enough to see baby horses and piglets that were born earlier that week. Reese especially loved the duck races because they had music playing and she had to show the crowd her moves. I think she may like the attention.

It was a really fun night, but we found out that Ron is allergic to horses. So besides the hives all over his neck, it was a successful night.

Baby Baby.....

I couple weeks ago, I made Reese some baby cribs out of a diaper box and she has loved them. She thought they were for her though and tried to sit and lay down in her new bed. As you can see...... the baby got sat on a few times. Reese had fun though:)

A good photographer and a cute girl = cute pictures

My good friend whom I have known for the last 20 years decided to stop teaching(high school) and start a business in her real love, which is photography and graphic design. She needed a few models to take pictures of and this little girl was chosen. I would pick her too:)

 The thing I love about these pictures is that they capture Reese's personality. Michelle came up to my house and put a little chair out and just started taking pictures. In the picture above, Reese is holding a piece of ice because she loves to suck on ice all day long.

 In the picture above, you can see where the ice melted on Reese's shorts and then she went and put on her necklaces and her one-lensed glasses

 Then we ended up going to the field behind our house and took some pictures in the long grass. I think this picture is absolutely beautiful!