Reece Turns One ---- 05/08/09

I finally got around to making a slide show for Reece's birthday and her party the day after. Party #2 will be here before I know it.
Enjoy!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

I love this idea!

I am a scrapbooker. I love it. I love the smell of all the paper in my favorite scrapbook store that is a good 35 minute drive from my house that I visit often. I could spend hours in there looking at paper, ribbons, and brads. I love taking all those elements along with my pictures and creating scrapbook pages (my works of art.) But the honest truth is I just don't have the time to scrapbook as much as I want. When I was pregnant I used to think of all layouts I would make of my little sweetie, then she got here and I soon learned that some days there was not time for a shower much less a scrapbook session. It has of course gotten easier as she has gotten older but I still find myself stretched for time. I have also wondered what I would do with the books when Reece moved away. Hopefully she would want hers but I would want it as well. Also what happens when we have another child??? How would I do it all? Then I came across this blog post by Danelle Johnson and loved it. I have made photo books before and love them. So, what a great idea. I plan on doing just that. At the end of the year I will make a digital photo book for that year. I can order as many as I want anytime. I love Shutterfly and they are always having some sort of sale. I can do one for however many kidos I have and then when I do have the time and energy to get creative, I can create a little masterpiece of paper and ribbon. This way I always know our lives are being documented. I have already started sorting pictures into month folders and then will download them to my Shutterfly account. I can not wait to start her 2009 book. I will be sure to share it when it is complete.
What do you think about this idea? I would love to know what you do with your photos. I know we all love taking pictures of our little ones.

Happy 17 Months

Dear Reece,


Wow- you are 17 months today. I can not believe it. Next month you move up to the 2 year old class at your school and I am not sure I am ready. You are getting so big but I still think of you as that little newborn we brought home from the hospital. Right now you are wearing size 12 month pants and size 18 months shirts. You are into everything and love to climb and swing. Your favorite cartoon is Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and you get excited and dance whenever it comes on. Right now your favorite foods are yogurt, hot dogs, and green beans. You are such a good vegetable eater but I know that will soon change. You have always been a Daddy's girl but recently you are wanting Mommy more and more. You are learning your animals and their sounds. You look so cute and crack me up every time you make a "monkey" noise. You know almost all your body parts and like to "beep beep" your nose. You are talking more and more everyday and are starting to repeat things that your hear. You love to color and usually have your crayons spread out all over the house. You are such a beautiful little girl and I think your little laugh is the best sound in the world. I love you so much and hope you know how much joy you have brought to our lives.
This is a picture I took of you this morning. It showcases a typical morning around our house, you in mommy and daddy's bed watching Mickey Mouse with your Galvy Roar while we get ready for work.





You are sleepy cute and I love you more and more each day.

Love,

Mommy

Pumpkin Patch Fun

Saturday we went to the pumpkin patch in Elgin. My mom was in town and went with us. Aunt Lou Lou drove in to meet us too. Reece had a blast chasing the pumpkin patch resident cats and was not thrilled about having to sit still and take pictures. She had fun on the swing and went on her first hayride. She sure has grown since last year when we took her. I have been told there is a great patch in Marble Falls. I hope we get a chance to take her to that one too. Here are some pictures from my little pumpkin's trip.

Quick Update

I believe this is only the 3rd post I have done fo the entire month of September. It is so sad. We just got a laptop and Matt got our wireless working so now I can blog more while Reece is playing and don't have to wait until she goes to bed.
In other news my future sister-in-law asked last night if Reece could be the flower girl in the wedding. I am super excited. Her and my brother have a little boy who is a couple of months youger than Reece. They are giong to look so cute walking down the aisle together. Hopefully they will do it. He is the adorable little boy in our vacation pictures. The wedding is New Year's Eve.
I have gone on two interviews with UT system in the last week and a half and they both went really well. I am excited about the new possibility. I think. I am sad to leave the Senate but feel this is really it is time to move on.
And finally I posted back in May or June that my mother-in-law had cancer in her eye. They have since noticed some spots on her lungs and want to remove a piece for further tests. It is not an easy proceedure. The surgery will be this Friday at 7:30 am. Matt and I will be in San Antonio for it. My mom is coming into town to watch Reece. Please say a pray for her recovery and that the spots are not more cancer.
Another post soon with pictures of Reece. I promise. She is getting so big.




P.S. Do you like the new blog background. I love Fall. And the Barkers have a ton of plans for this month.

Ben & Jerry's-- 1 down 63 to go

On Friday a few of my co-workers and I started talking about ice cream.... I am not sure why or how we even got on the subject. But it soon turned to how much I love ice cream and how fun it would be to pick a company and eat all their flavors. This somehow also linked to a previous conversation a co-worker and had on the way to a security meeting about our "Bucket Lists" and how mine was mainly made up of places that I wanted to go and not a lot of personal accomplishments. Once again I am not clear how all this happened but the point is the next thing I know I am on the Ben & Jerry's website counting all the flavors (64 some of which sound horrible.) and adding this project to my "Bucket List. (which I will be sharing with you all in the very near future) And for the record I do not consider this to be a personal accomplishment, more along the lines of having a little fun.
I explained this to my wonderful adoring husband and he added it to his list as well (he has already began checking things off of his------ show-off) Sunday at the grocery store we discovered B&J had little 3oz containers. Perfect for our project. I selected Cherry Garcia and was quite surprised at how good it was! 1 down 63 to go!

Reece and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Yesterday was not the best day Reece has ever had. It started out fine but quickly turned bad when we got to school and learned that her favorite morning teacher was on vacation this week. So, when I left her she was screaming with big tears rolling down both cheeks..... reaching for me, mommy! You know the one that is suppose to hold her and comfort her when she is upset. But I left her. It was so hard but I knew once I left she would calm down and be just fine. I thought about her all day and could not wait to get her. As soon as I saw her I knew she had had a bad day. She was not wearing the same clothes I dropped her off in. She apparently spilled her chocolate pudding on herself. Her hair was not in the two cute piggies I fixed (still not sure what happened with her hair.) The worst thing was the big red knot on her forehead. She slipped and hit her head on the floor and if that was not bad enough, she also got hit in the eye with a book and had a scratch. Both still very visible several hours after they happened. Her teacher (who I love) also said that Reece was so tired at lunch that she fell asleep in her chair at the table while eating. So, they let her take an early nap and she got fresh lunch when she woke up. Which I thought was really sweet of them. She was so tired from her day that she fell asleep again in her highchair at home after dinner. Hopefully today has gone better for her. She still cried when I dropped her off but not too bad.

I also was able to meet the "two year old bully" at daycare yesterday. I had heard about him because my friend Joan had told me. He picks on Jessie. He was in Reece's room when I picked her up and he hit me in the head with a beach ball. If he is throwing balls at the parents.... what is he doing to the little ones. Let me just say that he is a big kid and I hope he is moved up before my little one has to be with him all day every day!
I know I have not blogged in a while. We have been busy and I just have not had the time to download pictures and post. I have been working on some Christmas projects and trying to organize photos so I can get started on Reece's year book. Hopefully soon I will get some posts up. I have quite a few pictures I want to share.