The Many Styles of Reagan

I just had to share with you my most recent pictures of Reagan's unique style. Her philosophy is the more the better. It doesn't matter the accessory...she just wants a lot of them. I hope that one day she can use it for good :-)!!!

Obviously, you can't miss the headbands but notice the wrist and fingers too. This was a style she enjoyed for about 3 or 4 days...no kidding.

Here is Reagan playing with her friend Jonathon. She is sporting the "eyes" (which most of us would call sun glasses) and the lovely rain boots.

Cream Cheese Filled Strawberries

These are great for showers or any type of entertaining. They taste so yummy!

Cream Cheese Filled Strawberries

32 Starwberries

Filling:
12 oz Cream Cheese
3/4 cup powder sugar
1/4 tsp almond extract

Cut an X in the strawberry to create a pocket and use a zip lock bag to squeeze in the filling. Refridgerate before serving.

Happy Birthday Reagan Elizabeth!

Today is my baby girl's 2nd birthday! She is a precious child and has been such a blessing in our lives! She has a wonderful smile (that she won't share with just anyone), she thinks her sister is the greatest and is still happiest when she has blankie in her arms :-).

Life lessons from our kids: Matt and I got Reagan a roller coaster for her birthday and Rylee wanted to give her a sucker. Both were in the living room when Reagan got up this morning, however, the first thing she noticed and the only she cared about was the sucker that was from her sister. After the sucker was open and in her mouth she decided to get excited about the coaster.

What she's doing now...

• within the past month or two her talking switch has been turned on and she'll carry on a conversation with us


• still our picky eater (hot dogs, chicken nuggets, fruit, crackers and cereal...these aren't the only things she eats but the things I know I can get her to eat)


• sleeping in a big girl bed for about almost 3 months now


• has definitely realized her ability to protest :-)


• LOVES: jewelry, lipstick, playing with her baby dolls and coloring/art/play dough

(Reagan acting camera shy)

Exciting News...

(above: picture and baby by Kim Wheeler :-D)

I won some incredibly cute, personalized art by Kim at Small Words. I check out her blog all the time and this week she had a contest going on and all you had to do was leave a comment. Never did I think I had a chance at winning...but I did!!! I am so excited! I don't know that I've ever won anything of value before. Maybe this will motivate me to do some decorating in the girls rooms.

All about me...

I think I'm going to set a record for number of posts this month...I've not blogged this much in a long time! I have been tagged, so here are 6 random facts about me:


1- My two favorite flavors are caramel and cinnamon (sorry Pam!). Yum, yum...I love 'em! Notice they are both desert/sweet flavors. That tells you something else about me :-).

2- Matt and I met on a blind date and married exactly a year (to the date) after our first date. Alomst 7 years later, I have no doubt it was the best decision I've ever made!!!

(this picture was taken the year we were married)

3- I really enjoy girly movies...you know the Julia Roberts/Cameron Diaz/Reese Whitherspoon type movies. The kind of movies that don't have a very thick plot and you can watch the first 5 minutes and the last 5 minutes and pretty much have the movie, yeah those are the ones I talking about.

4- I have big babies! Both of my girls were over 9 lbs when they were born...skipped right over those newborn diapers :-).

5- My favorite new blog is http://www.simplemom.net/. I am a pretty practical girl and she is very practical and inspiring!

6- My favorite color is green. It's a happy color and it reminds me of the outdoors and nature. When we built our house I painted my kitchen green...I mean really green...and after the first coat of paint Matt said "are you sure this is the color you want???" I think he even likes it now!

***I tag Bethany, Melissa, Pam, Amy, Terra, Lisa***

Well, that's it for randomness on my part! Here are the rules:

1. Link to the person who tagged you

2. Post the rules to your blog

3. Write 6 random things about myself

4. Tag 6 people at the end of your post and link to them

5. Let each person you have tagged know by leaving a comment on their blog.

6. Let the tagger know when your entry is posted.

Invisible

My mom sent me this today. Amazing timing I tell ya!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YU0aNAHXP0

I had one of those moments this weekend...I was tired of laundry, tired of cooking, tired of cleaning the house 3 times a day and tired of whining girls (who's attitudes just reflect that of their mom). Being a mom is the most challenging job I've ever had. It's challenging because it's not about me and I don't get the recognition that I so enjoy. The one thing I know, though, is that it is the greatest opportunity I've ever been given. So, for the rest of today :-), I will remind myself with every dirty sock I pick up and spill that I clean up that I am blessed to be able do it for the 3 most important people in my life.

School Days...

Carson Andrew

Keely Parker

Margaret "Maggie" Elaine

Fast forward 5 years and these 3 precious babies (my nieces and nephew) are all starting school this year. It's a little overwhelming when I stop and realize how grown up they really are. They are amazing kids now and I can't wait to see the impact they have on the world around them. My prayer for them is that God will bless them with an exciting and wonderful year and that His light will shine in their lives!

I'm a photo thief! If the following pictures were taken from your blog, please forgive me :-). The past few weeks I seem to have forgotten I own a camera. A few shots of what we've been up to since my last post...

Swimming and lunch at Terra's...it was the perfect day and we had great company. The only one missing from the picture is Amy and she is behind the camera. Thank you Terra for a fun day!!!

Bethany and I met Dad, Amy, Rachael and Emily up in the mountains for a surprise birthday celebration for my dad. We had a great time and as always, Rachael and Emily spoiled us helping with the babies.

Terra and I took Rylee and Julia to see the American Girl movie. What a cute movie! By the end of the movie the girls were both in the same seat and had gone through twizzlers and a box of crunch. I think they had a great time too!

Woohooo...I got an award!

Let's face it, I'm not the most creative cat but it's very exciting to know that there are a few people out there who check out my blog from time to time!!! Who knows, this may even inspire me to step it up a notch :-). I was nominated for this award by my friend Rachel. She is a stay-at-home mom, talented cook and a great blogger. What I like most about Rachel is that she has a big heart and a enjoys the little things in life. Beware...her little boy Noah will crack you up too!

There are specific instructions that must be followed now in order to maintain such status in blog world though, so here they are:

1. Put the logo on your blog.

2. Add a link to the person who awarded you.

3. Nominate at least seven other blogs.

4. Add links to those blogs on your blog.

5. Leave a message for your nominee on their blog.

Here are my nominees...

http://www.bethanyandjeramy.blogspot.com/ - My sister, my friend and the mom of my sweet Ella Jean! If you know Bethy, you love her. Her blog is about family and her health and exercise journey. She is transparent and real...what more can you ask for!

http://www.livefromthequickhouse.blogspot.com/ - Terra is my "let's not take life too seriously" voice of reason (which is particularly helpful to me :-D). She is creative and sassy and the mom of 2 cute kiddos! You'll enjoy reading about their family fun and her newest projects.

http://www.tylerkateshawn.blogspot.com/ - This girl has is going on! Life with a 2 1/2 yr old and twins that will soon be 1 and she still has a clean house, mows the grass and blogs. Her blog is a small window into the the world of all those beautiful babies. It will inspire you to appreciate life day by day.

http://www.pamelaposch.blogspot.com/ - This is the one member of our family with oodles of talent. She can turn trash into treasure and makes it look easy. She is also the most creative scrapper I've ever seen. Most importantly, though, she is an amazing mom to my very energetic nieces and nephew.

http://www.thekempfamily.blogspot.com/ - The focus of Amy's blog and life is her precious daughter Scotlyn. Amy, however, is an incredible decorator and really needs to expand her blog to include all of her great decorating ideas for those of us who are a little decorating challenged...hint, hint!!!

http://www.annamarie08.blogspot.com/ - My friends Steve and Ruth Ann recently adopted a beautiful little girl and this is their story. Start at the beginning...they share wonderful details about the adoption process and you'll fall in love with the love of their life!

http://www.beckyhiggins.com/blog/ - This is the one blog in which I do not personally know the author, but I love what she has to say. Becky's trade is scrap booking (which I don't do), but she also posts the most handy little tips and ideas and has wonderful recipes (and great pics of those recipes).

Blackberry Pickin'

According to my husband, I am a city girl. I like a nice, clean hotel when we go on vacation (rather than a camping trip), I don't make biscuits and gravy and I've never been blackberry picking before (or any berry for that matter). Over the years I've come to appreciate the wonderful experiences he has introduced me to and our girls are always thrilled when daddy has planned an adventure. This week it was blackberry picking. When he mention what we were going to do, I envisioned the manicured strawberry patches that you hear about...that was not the case. There were thorns, lots of brush to climb through and the insects of summer. We had a great time though!!! We will be doing it again...except next time with long sleeves.

These are the days...

The past few weeks have been filled with summer fun. I love watching the girls run and play and pass out from pure exhaustion. It's amazing...as soon as we finish breakfast they are ready to go outside and I think they would stay out there all day if I'd let them.

This is a picture of the Zinnia's that Rylee planted around our garden. They are beautiful and attract tons on butterflies.

Reagan playing in the pool on the 4th of July. She also watched her 1st fireworks show that night and loved it! At the last minute, we decided to wake her up and let her watch the fireworks and we are so glad we did.


Girls waiting patiently to go play at the Splash Pad.

It was a bit chilly one morning last week, so Rylee decided she needed all of her winter accessories. She played like that for about 20 minutes and then decided it wasn't that cold any more :-).

We had a great visit with nana and pap pap last weekend. They brought Rylee the picnic set for her birthday and the girls love it!