Chalk

Arlington of fun

Spent the day with Grandmama in Arlington. It was a ton of fun.
We must have more days like this one.

Yesterday, I felt like total K-rap. I expected today to be a long one. But, last night Reece and I prayed together for rest and wellness, and I felt 100% better today. Thank you, Lord. It was a beautiful day in nature, in spirit, and in company.We played outside for a while, had some lunch, a short nap, and then headed to a nearby park.Chased down this mom and her baby (who were trying to leave) for their ball. The image of him running after them was so funny, but I didn't get it in time. There were at least 2 other balls he stalked and got today.This experienced mom was not at all concerned about Reece's interest in her baby. Rather, she offered for him to hold her!

Speaking of babies, stopped by the Deller's on the way back. It was soooooo great to see Jill and those girls...if only we lived closer to each other!
Abbey is already 5 1/2 months old, and such a pretty little girl.Oh those eyes!Amanda feeding Reece his milk.
He rather liked not having to hold the cup himself.Hugs!
Amanda asked me to hold her several times...sooo sweet. She's tall and her sweet legs just cradled around me.Love, love, love you girls.
Hope to see you again soon.With to-go Chinese food, we made it back to Grandmamas and Papa Ben's for dinner. Decided I had better give Reece a bath there if he was going to get one tonight.

Grandmama liked the bathtime boy, but loved even more his bare bottom running around the house afterwards.Stupid mommy didn't bring a change of clothes which I actually took OUT of the bag this morning (b/c they were for winter).Thankfully, the weather was perfect for so little clothes and I kept the car temp just right. So, dressed solely in his diaper, I packed Reece in the car for the ride home with his paci, milk, and lamb. I just knew he'd be asleep before we even turned the corner...

Nope. He made it the entire way home. About 2/3 home, he started saying mommy. Actually, it was more like 'Mommy. Mommy. Mommy. Mommy.'. It was as if he wanted to tell me what a great day he had. I answered every time. So dear to my heart. Oh how long I yearned to hear that word. It was a great day sweet boy.

(Blogger messed up and I had to do this entire post twice. I'm up much too late (you can't tell by the time below). But, will pray for rest for me and some dear others I know that need it.)

It's that time again...

Sweet Fifteen

He's fifteen months today. We three are having a lot of fun together right now...probably the most fun so far. One of my favorite things is how he's developing a sense of humor and cracks himself up.

Today, I picked him up and stood in front of the mirror. He decided to show me his teeth with a big scary smile. He just giggled and giggled at himself in the mirror.

Splish splashing and giggling in the bath...
(wish I had the camera the first time he did it...hang in there, the middle is the best)


He is into phones...pretty common. Sometimes he pretends there is a phone by using the back of his hand. But today while changing him, he used his foot! He pulled his foot all the way up to his cheek and said 'Hello' into it. I cracked up.

I just realized that he is saying no, which sounds like 'nah'. It sounds similar to na-na and snack, so I was slower to catch on. He was already shaking his head, and now he puts the two together. ; )

His own language right now is so hilarious. Listen closely to the video below at the beginning for the random combination of inflections and slurs. He's definitely carrying on a conversation...I like to call it Jibber-Reece.

Blows kisses when it's time for bed...so sweet.

We pray together before meals and just before bed. He's not quite sure what we're doing, but does like to repeat A-MEN! at the end. Warms my heart, and I bet God's too.
Mmmm-mah. Night night.

Sweet Sixteen

Lunch with Jason on Thursday. Love that guy. We have a lot in common and our conversations are always introspective, insightful, and...too short. We're both reading (his 3rd time) and highly recommend Blue Like Jazz. No intro can quite explain what it's about properly, but it's an awesome book.

Reece and I both sported our Aggie gear in support of their appearance in the Sweet Sixteen tonight. I knew Jason would appreciate the gesture, even though my socks were 'purple' according to him. ; )Later, outside...
Reece shaking Lucy's leash...the other pics of Lucy were blurry.
She looks irritated. If only she knew this was merely the beginning!Although I do love some disco, this isn't his John T. impression.
He's thrown the ball into the street, saying 'uh oh' and signaling for me to go get it.This is one of the things we are working on.
'Stop' when we see a car - He's doing VERY well on that one and often waves to the cars.
Not going into the street. - He's also doing well on that one. I wonder if he understands the threat of having to go inside if he does. (I think so because he throws a fit literally when we come inside.) The boy LOVES to be outside...or couldn't you tell?
Not throwing the ball into the street - Not doing so well on that one. I take the ball away, but he gets over it fairly quickly and finds a stick or something else. We'll keep working on it.Unfortunately the Ags lost in a really close one. It was time to retire that shirt anyway (thanks for the loaner Oliver!)...I had to squeeeeeze him into it this morning. Hopefully, we'll get a new one for football season...hint, hint.

Co-Pilots

Picked up Kirsten and Grayson Wed late afternoon for a short trip to the Flight Museum. I love riding together...aren't all 4 of us cute! Reece was a little piggy eating Grayson's rice cakes. When he was ready for another he said 'Mo Mo' (more) and raised his hand in the air waiting for the pass back. Kirsten quickly realized that he's done this drill before. We only had about 30 minutes inside before they closed. The play area was fun and the planes were pretty darn cool. We heard they have story time also, so may be worth a trip back. We hung around outside for a while just watching the planes fly over head.
Grayson L O V E S airplanes. One would fly over and before it even left our view, he would say 'More!'.

Wiggles and Wags

Trekked out to the Wiggly Play Center this morning and met Chrys and Oliver. Didn't capture many, but naturally got one of Reece is his favorite toy...BAH! Balls, always balls. It doesn't matter where we go or what we do.It was nice to try somewhere different. I agree with Chrys that it will be more fun when they're a little older. No rush on that, though.Met Mr. Mike for lunch. I didn't feel quite myself earlier, but something about the burrito, the boys, and company of Chrys and Mike really perked me up.
Mike encouraged this sweet, shy smile from Reece.I love Oliver's crinkle nose and thought it was too funny they were holding hands. I'm sure it was some form of thumb wrestling or food stealing. (insert man grunt here)A backyard view of evenings around our house. Reece getting Lucy's toy and throwing it for her to fetch. Not always poetry in motion just yet, but they're working on it. Reece loves watching Lucy run wild around the yard in excitement. He makes his barking sound (more like uh-uh) when they are playing.

Monday Morning

Chick-Fil-A morning with Chrys and Oliver. Anne suprised us and showed up with the girls...so fun. We all ate and then the kiddos played for a few in the play area.

Then, we were off to GymDandies, which was canceled. Tried the park for a few minutes, but quite, quite windy. It was a great start to the day though.

Flash Attach

I broke out my flash attachment the past 2 nights just to experiment a little. Got to learn how to work with lighting a little more for all my upcoming photo shoots (hah!).

Normally, a big shadow and a big splash of overexposed face would be filling these photos, so I was pleased with the results...

(I'll probably get in trouble for this one, but I LOVE this photo of him.)
Enjoy it while it lasts!

At 7pm tonight and no lights on, this room was pretty dark.
I was amazed at how well the flash worked,
creating pretty nice light throughout the shot.
And what a cutie with his little chunky thighs!

Planning Meeting

Another evening equals more time with the neighbors outside. We ended up planning a meeting to plan our upcoming block party. That's right...a party to plan the party. Can you tell we like to hang out together?

There are never enough balls for this crowd.
And Reece always wants the one someone else has...hmm...

Aiden, next door, is such a cutie.
He shared both his chalk and sweet smile with us.

Neighborhood Plaid

Day 2 of our fashion show of new, gently-used clothes:
Plaid.

(that is a funny looking word)

Note the unbuttoned pants.

The snap on those cute jeans just won't stay closed.

Hey, I think my head is stuck between these rails!

Kelly is always so enthusiastic and full of energy,
even after a long day of work and still in her heels.
Today she held Reece while swinging her Bailey high in the air.

Seeing a pattern? We spend most early evenings before dinner out in the yard, hanging out with the neighbors and their kiddos. All of a sudden there seems quite a few.
3 boys on our side of the street, and 6 girls (and 1 more boy) across.

It is a very nice way to end each day.

A block party is coming up soon for sure.