Team-Up Thursday: Fresh

Jody chose this week's theme of "fresh" and loved the natural light and "softness" of her shot of the peonies. I, on the other hand, went a different route because I just had to include the shot I captured of my daughter as the flower girl and the ring bearer being "fresh" to me at a recent wedding. They were standing there looking all innocent and I asked them to smile at the count of three. Just after I said "three" this is what I got! Take note of the lollipop and candy necklace. They had a candy station at the wedding for the little kids and the "kids at heart" so many of them, including these two, were on a sugar high. :)

Check out Megan and Melody to see more Theme Thursday shots.

100th Day Celebration

After being cancelled twice due to all of the snow we recently got, Emily finally had her "100th day" celebration at school. I had never heard of such a celebration, but I didn't ask and just went with the flow. Emily had to decorate a T-Shirt with 100 objects to represent the 100 school days they've had so far. I thought it was a crazy regional thing, but I've read other blogs that talked about it as well so I guess it's done all over - who knew? Anyway, my mom came down to visit last month so I gave this task to her so she could have a little creative bonding time with Emily. Below is a picture of what they ended up with after all the gluing, sewing, etc.

The shirt isn't the only highlight of this picture, though. Notice the little "tuft" of hair in the middle of Emily's hairline. No, that's not extra-long "baby hair"; that's the result of Emily taking a pair of scissors at her after-school program and cutting her hair. I asked her, "Why on earth would you cut your hair, Emily?" She answered, perfectly calmly, "Because it keeps going in my face." Logical, right? I could have strangled her! Now she keeps complaining that "it looks weird when I wear a headband" and "the kids are going to laugh at me." I just keep nicely reminding her that she is the one who cut it. I'm going to call the hairdresser to see what can be done, but I'm sure we'll end up having to get bangs cut all around (or "fringe" as my British hubby calls it). She's never had bangs before, so who knows how it will turn out. To make things worse, Emily is the flower girl in a wedding coming up May 1st. There's never a dull moment...

Best Shot Monday: Bounce Party

This past weekend we went to a birthday party at "Bounce U" in Allentown. Emily was a little cautious a couple years ago when she went to her first party at one of these places. She was probably around 2 or 3 years old and the slides were HUGE in comparison to the slides at the park. It took us until almost the end of the party to get her to try to go down one.
Tyler on the other hand, has always been fearless. He went to his first bounce party last year right after he turned 1. He was still too young to go on the big slides by himself, but he just loved going down them with my husband. He turned 2 this past December and was more than ready to try the big slides this past weekend - SOLO. Before I could catch him, he was already climbing up the little square steps leading up to the huge slide. I was a little nervous at first but then thought, What's the worst thing that could happen? He could fall back off the steps and land on the big puffy pillow-like base at the bottom. Everything is padded at this place! He struggled to get up at first with his tiny little legs, but made it to the top and flew down the slide sideways - laughing! Emily just stared at him coming down, astonished! One of the slides required them to come down in a potato sack, so Emily would help Tyler since he couldn't manage climbing up and holding the sack at the same time. As you can see below, they had a blast!

For more Best Shot Monday pics, head over to Tracey's Blog

Happy 5th Birthday, Emily!

My sweet Emily... I can't believe you turned 5 today! I love your sweet smile and enthusiasm. Your energy and passion are limitless, sometimes getting you into trouble! This year you started Kindergarten and have to wear an adorable little uniform. This is your 3rd year of soccer and you scored a goal in your 1st game of the season! Your favorite color is still pink (of course), and your favorite singer at the moment is Taylor Swift. You get excited every time you hear her songs come on the radio and sing along in a VERY loud voice. Speaking of... you still haven't learned to control your volume yet, and your voice gets louder and louder as your excitement builds when telling a story. We've suffered many headaches, but wouldn't trade you for the world! You are also a wonderful big sister to Tyler. You are so loving and caring to him - he simply adores you! Keep making us smile with all of your funny dance moves and unexpected comments. Happy 5th Birthday, Emily! I love you with all of my heart.

Best Shot(s) Monday: Dandelion

Yes, I'm still alive! We came back from England in the beginning of the month and we've been running around nonstop since - like always! I know I've been slacking posting to the blog. Cara over at I Miei Due Bambini even called me out last week on her blog and I got another reminder today that I haven't posted anything so I made sure to get at least these two pics uploaded tonight to share with you. I have plenty of pics stacking up. I just need to find the time to transfer them to the computer and write about them.

These pictures were taken when Emily and I went to the park the other week. It was such a mild day and we had a wonderful time. She met a little girl and they kept running off playing "detective," looking for the prettiest flowers and other little treasures at the park. She kept bringing dandelions back to me, so I decided to snap a couple shots of them. She saw the pictures and said, "Oh they're so beautiful and sunshiny!" Tyler didn't make it to the park with us that day since he decided that taking a nap was more important. Maybe next time! Tyler is going to be 16 months already next week. He now has a total of 10 teeth; the top and bottom front four and his upper first molars, which came in at 14 months. Well anyway, enjoy the shots below and hopefully I'll be posting sooner than the last time.





For more Best Shot Monday pics, head over to Mother May I

Best Shot(s) Monday: The Zoo

We finally had a break in the cold weather the other weekend, so we decided to take a trip to the zoo. Many of the warmer weather animals weren't in their cages yet, but we still had a great time just being able to walk around outside without freezing.













For more Best Shot Monday pics, head over to Mother May I

Getting So Big

I sit back and look at Emily and Tyler and wonder where the time has gone?

Tyler turned a year already back in December, and he is getting so big! He was such a little peanut for the longest time, but his appetite seemed to double ever since he got off the baby food and stared tasting "real" food. Looking at him, you would never think he could eat so much. Just tonight, he was sitting in the kitchen next to me while I was cooking and started having a mini meltdown because it was taking so long. I sat him in his chair and he ate 2 whole clementines as a pre-dinner snack! After that, he polished off a healthy portion of tortellini and had vanilla pudding that Stu whipped up for dessert. He has really been trying to use a spoon/fork to feed himself for the last month or so.

He is also much more steady on his feet now and is getting into absolutely everything! He still really only says mama and dada occasionally, which is so unlike Emily at this age. Even if Emily couldn't say actual words, she would be jabbering in her own little language. Emily was always a little chatterbox and still is to this day (like her mommy, I've been told). :) Tyler is definitely much more quiet as far as speech, but I am beginning to see he understands a lot more than we give him credit. I had been showing him this video where it repeats basic words over and over and has children point to various body parts, etc. as the word comes on the screen. Tyler doesn't pay attention half the time and is only interested in watching Emily. I play the video anyway, and the other week we were amazed to see that he must have actually been paying attention. As the words came on the TV and were spoken, Tyler pointed to his nose, mouth, closed his eyes, waved, and put his arms up, as instructed by the voice on the TV. We couldn't believe it - it was out of nowhere!

Emily is also growing up so quickly before our eyes. She turned 4 back in late September and acts some days like she'll be turning 14 this September. She still has her whiny bouts at times, but it definitely has improved 100% over the past year or so. She is such a good helper around the house; always has been really. She gets up in the morning, dresses herself, and comes to me afterward to tie her shoes and sometimes help her with a button that is giving her a problem. If we have extra time in the morning, she even sometimes goes in and makes her bed, lining up all her stuffed animals without even being asked. She is also a wonderful big sister to Tyler. They just adore each other. He follows her everywhere, and she tolerates him climbing on her, pulling her hair and knocking off all of the books on her shelf after she just put them away.

Her favorite thing to do at the moment is play board games. She wants to play them every second we have from bath time to bedtime each night. Stu usually end up playing with her while I settle Tyler down for bed. Her favorite game at the moment, which is driving us crazy by the way, is Candyland - Dora edition. Like watching Dora on TV isn't enough! Stu and I still blame that show for the cause of Emily speaking so loudy ALL of the time. Those of you who are forced to watch this show as well know what I mean. She never talks quietly - she shouts everything! Emily just never learned the concept of "Use your indoor voice" no matter how hard we try." And the more excited she gets to tell us something, the louder she gets! Below are a couple recent pics of the gang. Enjoy!

Wordless Wednesday: Cupcake

It was all fun and games until.......

Emily decided to taste Tyler's cupcake!

See more pics over at Wordless Wednesday here and here

Theme Thursday: Favorite Holiday Memories

I've had so many wonderful Christmas memories over the years. I just love this time of year! But out of all of them, I'd have to say that last year was one of the most memorable because Tyler was born just before Christmas, on the 22nd. I ended up having a C-section in the late afternoon so they were pretty set on only releasing me from the hospital on Christmas day sometime after lunch. I was determined to get home before Christmas so I started walking around my room and sat up in th chair a couple hours after surgery. I even would make trips out into the hall to get som ice (mostly to show them I was doing well). After much hesitation, the doctor finally agreed that I could go home the morning of Christmas Eve. He was probably just sick of me asking all of the time. After all, Emily had been geared up for Christmas and Santa for months. I had to make it home to share that with her and see the look on her face Christmas morning when she saw all of the presents under the tree.

As soon as I got settled in my room after the C-Section, we called my mom to tell her the news. Emily, who was 3 at the time, was spending the night up with my mom. My mom told her that she had a new baby brother and I heard her start to cry. I was afraid of that happening since for the past nine months Emily had been ademate that she was going to have a little sister. I would say, "But Emily, we could be having a little boy baby." She'd get a bit huffy and say, "No. It's a girl." Then I would ask her why she thought it was definitely a girl and she would say, "Because I want a baby sister...so we match." We actually only picked out Tyler's name on the way to the hospital. I had been hearing Emily talk about having a girl so often that I think Stu and I were also convinced that it was going to be a girl. Well anyway, Emily came to visit her baby brother the next day and you could see her eyes light up from the moment she saw him. She just kept staring at him and would let out little giggles, saying "He's so tiny!" You can tell from the pictures below how much she loves her new baby brother, Tyler.

Go visit The Land of K. A. for more togetherness shots

Christmas Card 2008...Finally!

Boy, I am really running behind this year! I managed to take a photo of the kids a couple weeks ago and only got around to making the card this weekend. I started browsing Snapfish, Shutterfly, etc. to try to find the photo card I liked best. Then I thought about how much I liked Stacy's card and got to thinking that I should make my own template. I have a collection of backgrounds, fonts, you name it that I've collected over the years to make different projects. Anyway, here is the final product for this year's Christmas card. I have also saved a blank template in .psd format so you can add your own picture and text. Anyone who is interested, just email me at stushellyreeve@gmail.com and I'll email you the file. I'm all about sharing. Also, feel free to give me any constructive feedback. This was my first digital card template. I'm used to the more manual crafting methods like cutting, pasting, stitching, stamping or chalking when I make my cards or scrapbook pages. I haven't forged into the world of digital scrapbooking too much.

What a morning...and the day isn't over yet!

Oh my - what a morning I've had! Where should I start? I usually wake up around 5:30am, mostly so I can wake my husband up so he can get ready and be out the door by 6:20am. He rarely ever hears the alarm. Then I usually grab a quick shower so I can be ready when Ty and Em wake up.

Well, let's just say that's not how it started today. Our alarm clock this morning was Tyler's little cries coming from the next room. I looked at the clock, said a few choice words, kicked Stu out of bed and went over to Tyler's room. He was kneeling with his face pressed against the rails looking up at me with sad eyes, as if in baby jail.

I got Tyler changed and dressed in less than a minute and was off to wake up Emily. She of course picked this morning to take her good old time and didn't want to get out of bed. I hurried her along, asking her to brush her teeth, start getting dressed, etc. so I could grab a quick shower. Slow as molasses, she did manage to get her favorite tights on by the time I was finished...but that was it. The tights are another story. She wants to wear skirts and her crazy stripey, flowery, or polka dot tights every day, regardless of the freezing weather. I don't know where this little 4 year-old of mine developed such a strong opinion about what she wears over the past year. She says, "But mommy, it's fashion." Oh my - what am I in for?

Anyway, so Emily was distraught because she couldn't find a skirt so I had to stop throwing the lunches together and run downstairs to get a skirt out of the dryer for her. I threw the skirt on her bed and asked her to finish getting dressed so I could do her hair and tie her shoes after packing the lunches. In the meantime, I went to check on Tyler and saw a brown wet patch on the back of his shirt that had obviously seeped up from his diaper. He was now looking at me with a smile on his face. What else could slow down the process of getting out of the front door?

Emily put on her coat while I was changing Tyler for the second time and was heading to the car when I was packing up to leave. We got Tyler settled at daycare and Emily took off her coat in his classroom. I looked over at her and stopped in my tracks. She wasn't wearing a skirt! She was wearing her shirt and her favorite tights, of course, but had forgotten to put on the skirt. The whole time I saw her before we left she had her pink winter coat on so I didn't notice! Luckily no one saw but me, so I told her to quickly put on her coat. We found a spare set of clothing in her classroom that I had put there "just in case" ages ago, but she didn't want anything to do with the spare jeans. She kept insisting that they weren't her jeans. I showed her the bag with "Emily R." written on it and said, "See? This is your name. Your clothing, Em." She proceeded, "That doesn't spell my name. I am E-M-I-L-Y; not R too." Oh, she was testing my patience. Then she had a fit, saying that they were "Baby Jeans" because they were a little short and had an elastic waist - not the cool sparkly button jeans she has now. And plus, she wanted her skirt, not jeans!! After much discussion, and a little bribery, I managed to calm her down. By the time I left daycare she was smiling again and said, "Wait until we tell Daddy you forgot my skirt." Always my fault! I guess I better get used to it. Well, that was my morning and what a morning it was! Hopefully the rest of my day will go better.

Wordless Wednesday

Emily showing some concern when Tyler kept trying to eat the leaves

See more expressions over at Wordless Wednesday here and here.

Theme Thursday: Togetherness

As soon as I saw the theme of "togetherness" this week, I thought of this picture. Before Tyler was born last December, Emily was the only child and was by herself in almost all of the pictures that I took of her. I am really enjoying seeing the interaction between the two of them and being able to capture that. I still make sure to take plenty of pictures of him solo as well so he doesn't develop the "2nd child syndrome" and complain later on that I never took any pictures of "just him." Haha

In this picture, Emily was showing Tyler how to decorate the tree. They had such a fun time together. Emily was busy putting all of the little hooks on her Spongebob, Carebear and Dora ornament sets and taking Tyler's hand so he could help her put them on the tree. She did get a little frustrated though when Tyler kept taking off all of the ornaments they had just hung and would put them in his mouth. She would say, "No, Tyler. You don't eat ornaments." I was busy snapping away, hoping to salvage a couple shots for the annual Christmas card.

Go visit The Land of K. A. for more togetherness shots.

Wordless Wednesday: Expression

I think by her expression, Emily was sick of me always taking pictures of her....even at only 1 month old! Haha!

See more expressions over at Wordless Wednesday here and here.

Wordless Wednesday: Reflection

Emily at 6 months old...

Yummy, But Messy!

A fellow blogger, Momology mentioned a photo contest that 5 Minutes for Mom had posted. The theme is "Fun with Food."

Her photo was adorable and made me think about my own daughter, Emily during her 1st Birthday party. She had her first experience with something that sweet and absolutely loved the Elmo cake I had baked for her. She couldn't get enough - just kept stuffing it in!

She paused for a few seconds (which I caught in the photo below.) You can see by her cake-stuffed cheeks that she'd had enough, but yet it seems by her expression that she is comtemplating about going back for more! What was I thinking - red AND black icing! Even after scrubbing vigorously, her poor little face was stained a reddish hue for a couple of days. This was such a memorable photo of that day for me so I thought I'd share it and enter it in the contest for kicks. Wish me luck!

Best Shot Monday

I took the opportunity to post these Halloween pics since I just started the blog yesterday and didn't get to share them. Emily had been set on being Sleeping Beauty for months - it's all she talked about. It turned out that there were a total of 4 sleeping beauty costumes in her class alone (the age of Disney Princess envy)! Much to my relief, she didn't seem to mind, saying "We all match!" It will be many years until prom when she realizes what a nightmare it is for two girls to wear the same dress!