16 months!

Kudos go to the husband and I for keeping this kid alive for 16 months! I mean, really, that's insane. 16 months? We almost have a one-&-a-half year old! Crazy, folks. And she's turning into the most fantastic & entertaining little thing, too. She seems so much older than she is, which is so fitting considering she's my child. Ask anyone who knew me as a child - I was a diva, "4 going on 24" my family would say. I imagine Brooke will be just like that, with possibly even more personality (an almost-scary thought.)

It's incredible how much she changes month by month. Here's a quick recap this month:

- We have a monkey on our hands! We started tumbling class about 4 weeks ago. I'm shocked at the progress she's made in just 4 weeks. She is so much braver now, willing to try anything. She climbs and practices her balance and jumps on a trampoline (all with Mom as her spotter, of course.) She even pulls all 31 lbs of herself up on a chin-up bar, using that super-human strength she seems to have been born with. We can see a huge change at home, too. She's climbing all over the place!
- Appropriately enough, Brooke and I went to the Children's Museum for the first time, the perfect place to practice all her climbing skills! She got to play with all 4 of her cousins in the adorable Kids Town, complete with a grocery store, post office, diner, etc. They played at this giant water table, ran all around the gated toddler area (with a castle & a slide,) and threw balls all around in this big cage. She had so much fun!

- The purse obsession has been taken to a whole new level. She got 4, yes 4, new purses for Easter. She now has 6 and it is not uncommon for her to be carrying around all 6 at once. There are purses everywhere now!
- I'm proud to say she has become very polite lately. She can now say "thank you" pretty clearly and she says it in the sweetest little girly voice. She uses it all. the. time. Like, she'll hand you something and tell you thank you (for holding it for her, I guess?) I told her this morning that if she overuses it, people won't think she's being sincere!
- The morning nap is history. She just has one 1.5-2.5 hour nap in the afternoon. So sad :(
- Somebody had her first (and second and third...) ice cream cone this month.

- I'm not even going to try to list all of her new words this month because it's ridiculous. She's a big-time mimic now, trying to repeat everything she hears. This has helped her develop even more sounds, which has translated into a ton of new words. I understand almost everything she says, but Daddy sometimes needs a Toddler Translator. Some of our favorites? "Vacuum", "cracker", "cupcake", and, of course, the oh-so-sweet "thank you". She does have trouble with R's and S's, though. Have you ever heard of a child changing these into G's? She wears "gocks" on her feet, things often get "guck" (stuck), and she loves to "gock" in the rocking chair. Hilarious.
- She has started to sing along to the Dora theme song. She picked up on this quickly, as we don't watch Dora all that often. The best part is when she imitates Swiper's "Oh, maaaan!"

A few more random pics I never got around to posting!

To sum up: Brooke is awesome and I take a lot of vertical pictures.

Princess breakfast.

I'm not gonna lie. I was crazy excited for the big wedding today. Partly because, I mean, how many times do you get to see a girl become a real-life princess? Like, straight up fairy tale style? I'll tell you how many - maybe a couple, if you're lucky. Well I wasn't alive in '81 for the last one (no one counts Fergie), so I was a virgin Royal-Wedding-watcher.

Even more exciting? Getting to watch a girl become a real-life princess with your daughter. Um, hello! That's pretty much awesome. My sister felt the same way, so we planned a very special Royal Princess Breakfast to watch the big event together with our own little princesses. We didn't watch it live; there are very, very few reasons to wake a child at 6am, and Royal-Wedding-watching is not one of those reasons. (What is, you ask? Leaving to go on a Disney vacation, for one...November needs to hurry up!) So we started our breakfast and the Today Show coverage we had recorded around 9:15 instead. The girls dressed up for the occasion, because duh - it was Princess Day!

My mom & I made princess crown cookies for each of the girls (chocolate sugar cookies, yummmm!) Brooke got to enjoy her very own cookie. This is one of my favorite pictures of her lately! (She got her princess jammies in her Easter basket - not for this occasion, but what perfect timing!)

She wasn't into the cookie so much, but clearly she loved the icing!

The anticipation was great while waiting for the princess to appear. Due to a small glitch, we ended up coming home just before the Big Event started. My sister tells me her girls were in heaven watching the princess get married, especially seeing her ride in her royal carriage. My little nugget cuddled with me on the couch and we watched the whole wedding together (she wasn't feeling great - tummy troubles - so she was extra cuddly this afternoon.)

Something tells me I won't forget about this wedding for a while. And not because of the royal procession and the crazy hats, but because of the lovely little girly day I had with my daughter, my princess.

Hop hop.

"Brooke, what does a bunny do?"
"Hop, hop." Then she bends her knees and bounces up and down. (Sadly, that's as far as it goes. No actual hopping, as she inherited her Mom's absent vertical leap.)

Brooke's 2nd Easter was a great day! Eggs were hunted, baskets were opened, yummy food was devoured. She took 2 glorious naps and was pretty angelic all day. It was such fun to experience it with her this year, through her excited little eyes. Watching her enjoy it in a hands-on way was incredible. In true mamarazzi style, I photographed most of it. And as is the usual these days, Brooke was too busy to look at me and smile. But I did capture a pretty sweet little grin post-egg hunt.

Mini-soapbox alert: I've read a lot of cynicism surrounding the extravagant celebration of Easter recently and it makes me feel like I have to justify my own celebration. I am well aware of the meaning behind Easter and our children will be well-versed in it, too. But, just like with Christmas, I don't feel that we can't still celebrate the holiday in a fun & exciting way. Growing up, my parents did an incredible job of making each holiday a magical time for us, and I plan to do the same for our kids. I want them to look forward to Easter and be excited for it, not just pass it off as "another holiday". And for the first few years, sure, it will likely be all about the toys and gifts they receive; but eventually, as I did, Brooke will understand the religious meaning and the real reason we make Easter such a celebration.

With all that being said, here's our little lady with her Easter basket. It was overflowing with books (including her 1st bible), bunny slippers, a Dora soccer ball, and some quite girly things (a new purse, bracelets, etc.) just to name a few. She tore through it quickly and enjoyed each and every little gift!

What is it about Easter grass and toddlers?

 This kid owns more shades than most adults :) 

And apparently she was so excited for Easter that she decided our usual wake-up time just wasn't early enough - she wanted to celebrate even longer, so we got up at 7:15 (not early for some, crazy early for Brooke & me.) Of course, I had THE plan-of-all-plans for Easter morning ready in order to get to Church 20 minutes early (an Easter Mass must), my very last attempt at fulfilling my Lenten promise of being on time. I even kept her up a little late the night before, with the hope that she might even sleep in. So that lovely early wake-up call threw me for a big loop. I was worried that Brooke would lose steam by 11:00 Mass, so we ended up adjusting our little schedule to fit in a quick morning nap. Amazingly, it was a success. We had breakfast, a bath, got her in her dress, did an egg hunt and opened her basket, put her back in her jammies, and back to bed she went. All by 9:15. An hour later, we were out the door in our Easter best and had a beautifully behaved toddler for the rest of the day!

(That paragraph, which probably overwhelmed you just reading it, is exactly how my mind works. Overkill, no? On a regular day when we have no plans, I'm totally a go-with-the-wind kind of Mama. On mornings when we have a time limit? Somewhere to be? I plan things out the night before to a T. I usually have contingency plans in place depending on what time she gets up. Easter morning, as I lay in bed listening to her over the monitor playing in her crib at 7:15, my wheels were spinning as to how to get everything accomplished and still have a pleasant toddler come lunch time. I feel like this insane brain explosion sums up motherhood pretty nicely.)

Happy Easter :)

Happy Easter from the Reeders!

The 4 of us hope you enjoyed your holiday weekend :)

I hate to say it, but that smile on my face is slightly forced. While I very much enjoyed celebrating this holiday with my family, I'm not feeling so hot. My back has decided to rebel the last few days. I have incredible lower back pain, & I seem to be overcompensating for it in such a way that my upper back (and really the rest of my body) is starting to ache, too. It's so bad that I had a heat patch stuck to my back under my Easter dress during Mass this morning... Hopefully the pain will subside before Brooke's tumbling class on Tuesday! (I've been meaning to blog about it. She's loving it so far, but it's very physically demanding/exhausting for Mommy!)

Here's where things are in Babyland:

How far along?: 22 weeks, 0 days.
Total weight gain/loss: Next week... 
Maternity clothes?: Can't wait for this rainy yo-yo weather to end. While I'm not looking forward to the heat, I am greatly looking forward to less confusing temperatures (one day it's 45, the next it's 70...make up your mind, Mother Nature!) The cotton skirts are just beckoning me from my closet, but the maternity jeans seem to keep winning out.
Sleep: Depends on the day, really. Some nights it's not bad and I sleep like a rock (with a bathroom break or 2 in there, of course.) Other nights I toss and turn like it's going out of style. I think I need more pillows now...
Movement: Holy cow is this baby moving! I'm convinced this kiddo is dancing already. Both Daddy & big sister Brooke got to feel some pretty big thumps today!
Food/Cravings: None to report. Cruisin' through these days; no more sickness - knock on wood - and no crazy cravings yet.
Gender: I really am convinced there's a little man in this belly. (That's a weird sentence.)
New w/pregnancy #2: The crippling back pain started a few weeks early this time. (Not to be confused with regular back pain, which started weeks ago - also earlier than last pregnancy.)
What I miss: My back from last week.
What I am looking forward to: Halloween with 2 dressed-up kiddos! Oh, imagine the costume possibilities! I better start thinking about it now.... :)
Best moment this week: Mmmmm, carrot cake.
Weekly Wisdom: Back pain blows. (Gee, I'm getting wiser as the weeks progress, aren't I?)
Milestones: Baby Reeder weighs about a pound now. Only 8+ lbs to go :)

Egg hunt.

(I know. Worst blogger ever. I'm gonna go ahead and use the simultaneously-raising-a-toddler-&-growing-a-fetus excuse.)

Sunday was the Easter Eggstravaganza down at the Rec! The weather cooperated, so we were able to have a chilly, but sunny, egg hunt on the lawn. Brooke and her cousins Claire (pictured) and Hannah were all in the 2 & Under group, i.e. eggs and toys are just thrown all over the grass. Though not all that challenging, the munchkins still had a blast with it!

Brooke was a very good little hunter, "finding" her 10 eggs in no time.

After the hunt, she had a chance to open all her eggs and check out what was inside. Her loot: 5 packs of Spongebob gummies, a few Safe-T-Pops, several stickers (which she LOVES now) and a paper telling her she'd won a special prize (a bucket full of snacks/candy and a bunny.)

There were lots of activities for the kiddos at the little party, though only a few were age-appropriate for the Big Lady. She played a game, decorated a cookie with Daddy, and even made a craft project.

 Somebody enjoyed the icing stick a bit... :)

Her favorite part? Going over this little bridge in the middle of the gym. She went back and forth over this little thing about 100 times.

I'd love to say Brooke enjoyed the whole event...but that would be a lie. Remember the Santa meet 'n greet? Yeah, the Easter Bunny went about like that. I don't even have a picture of it because she was so freaked out from the very start. Oh well, maybe next year!

21 Weeks.

Exactly 2 years ago, I started this little blog as a way to chronicle this crazy journey towards parenthood. Now, 2 years and 300 posts later, I can't even believe how different things are. I am a mom, not a mom-to-be. I am married to a father. We are 4+ months away from being parents to two children. It's incredible how life works out.

How far along?: 21 weeks, 0 days.
Total weight gain/loss: +0.5 this week, +10.5 total.
Maternity clothes?: Took a little spill in the rain this week; thankfully, I only busted up my knee a bit - but I came thisclose to ripping a hole in the only maternity jeans I have. Luckily, they're going to survive a few more weeks until the heat sticks around for good.
Sleep: Getting more and more uncomfortable. And the little one has decided to practice her aerobic exercises in my belly around 11:00 each night = not helpful.
Movement: So much, so often. Baby Reeder is a squirmer :)
Food/Cravings: No real cravings, but I do go in waves of super-hard-to-satisfy hunger.
Gender: I don't even care, baby is 100% healthy!
New w/pregnancy #2: Going the TMI route again, so beware. I started my last pregnancy about 25 lbs heavier than this one; I didn't even start gaining weight last time until about this point in the pregnancy. The weight I'm gaining this time seems to be more noticeable (to me, at least)...especially in one particular place. Well, make that two. The Girls kinda deflated with all my post-baby weight loss, but they are making a comeback! Here's the extra-TMI part: they are getting...um...heavy.
What I miss: Sleeping comfortably.
What I am looking forward to: Hot dog, hot dog, hot diggity dogs :) (I promise this obsession is going to end soon....promise.)
Best moment this week: Without a doubt, it was seeing my favorite little fetus at the ultrasound! AND finding out the munchkin is growing so perfectly. Best news of the year :)
Weekly Wisdom: I just don't know.
Milestones: Baby Reeder is the length of a banana!

Excellent news!

Yesterday was my big ultrasound at the doctor's office. We were given the most excellent news:

I can eat hot dogs!!

Hooray! The Root Beer Stand, Reds games, and Skyline are now at the top of my list of things to do this summer! It doesn't get more exciting than that, folks :)

Oh wait...

Well, we also found out that the baby hard at work growing inside of me is perfectly healthy. I guess that's pretty ridiculously exciting, huh? Oh, and also, WE GOT TO SEE HIM/HER! So really, the hot dog thing is about the 3rd most exciting part of the appointment yesterday.

The 12 minutes that I got to lay there and watch my little one up on the screen were magical. It was just as awesome as it was with Brooke, just as exciting. Actually, don't tell her, but I think it might have been a bit more exciting, mostly because it put a very real spin on this pregnancy. Seeing that tiny little thing squirming around in there made things very real, a feeling I've been waiting for for quite some time now. This little guy or girl (still Team Surprise on the gender!) was moving all over the place during the ultrasound, a sign that this one may be even sassier than Miss Brooke.

Baby Reeder is, in the OB's words, "perfect". He/she has all of the right parts and they are all in the right places. The tech & OB saw no signs of birth defects or abnormalities. Heartbeat was a steady 152 bpm; watching the heart flicker on the screen is one of my favorite parts :) He/she weighs a whopping 14 oz. already. The average for this point in pregnancy is 12 oz... Surprise, surprise, the Reeders made another giant baby. (For the record, Brooke was only 1.5 oz above average at her ultrasound...ruh roh!) But the head is within the normal range for now - hooray for me!

We came home with a few pictures of the little one to show his/her big sister. She kept pointing to the pictures saying "baby", which was completely heart-melting. Without further ado, here are the best ones we have.

The standard profile shot. You can see a little bit of the spine and ribs, as well as a clearly outlined head. The little thing jutting out is the back of the baby's upper arm - I'm pretty sure the baby was rolling away from us here.

And here is the more hi-tech photo. Say what you will about 3D pictures, that they are creepy or weird, but I think they are flippin' awesome. Look at that cute face! It's not super easy to see, what with the giant umbilical cord in the way on the left, but the munchkin had his arm up over his face in a very dramatic fashion, so you can kinda see tiny fingers towards the top of the head on the left. And there's another blurry hand right below the mouth. Precious, no?

Relief is an excellent word for how I'm feeling today. Of course we had no reason to believe anything was wrong, especially since Baby Reeder is having parties in my belly all day long. But I still walked into that appt with a bit of trepidation. Knowing that the baby is perfect and I am doing everything right is so comforting!

Less than halfway until we meet face-to-face, kiddo. :)