First Snow

This past Wednesday we had our first and probably only snow of 2009. School was, of course, cancelled. Reese was thrilled! He immediately asked where his new sleds were that Aunt Joan gave him for Christmas and wanted to go outside. Neighborhood friends came over! They all had so much fun! They played outside for couple of hours, then all went in to get cleaned up. Next, Noah, Samantha, and Reese played the WII at our house and ate pizza rolls. Later, they went back out in the snow/mud! This was Raygan-Elise's first snow experience. As you can tell in the photos, she wasn't that thrilled! When I first sat her down, she was okay, but then she went to touch it! That was the end of that, and the tears began to roll!

This is what motherhood is all about...

So, this may be a little graphic for some. :)

But I have a true mommy story. First off, Raygan-Elise can't stand to be left alone. Literally, she will scream and scream as soon as you walk out of the room. She can be perfectly happy playing with her toys...you can be behind her and walk away...and she stops and screams. She makes herself so upset and will get out of breath, etc. So now, Brian is out of town at a training session for his new job. I have to go to the restroom! So I take her with me into our bathroom and put her on my lap. Quick and simple. Then, Reese walks in too! He just starts talking and playing with Raygan-Elise. Doesn't act like it is any big deal. So, here I am...trying to potty...with my 8 month old on my lap and my 6 year old dancing in front of me. Who needs privacy!?! Not a mommy!!

L-I-K-E-! with a capital K!

Tonight, out of the blue, Reese came into my room and laid down with me and Raygan-Elise. He said," You remember Jorja from last year? Well, she likes a boy in my room." I asked which boy and he replied, "Collier." Then he went on to say, "I mean likes- L-I-K-E-!- capital K." Those exact words! Oh my, we are in the first grade! He says she chases him around the playgroud. :) He repeated what like means and then said, "like, L-O-V-E" and got all giggly. I asked him if he L-I-K-Ed anyone and he said let me think. Got all giggly and shy. Finally said, "no, I like my baby sister. That's all"

Shopping Adventure!

So I took Reese, his friend, Aaron, and Raygan-Elise out yesterday shopping for deals. Here are some of the events of our day:

• Reese "yelling" at Aaron- "It's because of clearance. Clearance you know. Clearance. Clearance makes the price go up." He was really meaning tax.
  
• Reese reading all the price tags for Aaron on all the toys, and Reese asking me what was on sale. All of this made me realize that Reese and I go shopping together way too much!
• Noticing that we lost Raygan-Elise's lion toy after we got to car. Having to go all through Target looking for it. Finding it!! Then, having Reese tell me, after we were 10 minutes away from Target, "Mom, I think I dropped the toy on the ground at Target when getting in car." I was so mad. Pulled over. He was sitting on it.
  
• Reese telling me that I should cut the wires on my breast pump and pump directly into Raygan-Elise's mouth. (That was before we picked up Aaron and I was thinking aloud about how I was going to nurse her with Aaron with us. I ended up nursing her in a restroom stall while the boys stood outside the stall, but in the bathroom, in a corner. I told them I was changing her diaper.)
• The boys starving because it was 3:30 and we hadn't eaten lunch. So, they said they were going to "loose their appetite" if they didn't get food. They were "starving"! Oh my!
  
• Eating at McDonald's and watching the grandfather next to us get SO upset with his granddaughter.
• Reese and Aaron mixing a drink using the drink machine. Adding all flavors together. Reese wanted me to try his but I said a big NO thanks!
  
• Everyone saying how tiny and cute Raygan-Elise was! I think so too!
  
• Not finding any good Deals! Reese bought a Ben 10 DVD, and I bought Raygan-Elise a 2 sleeper gowns and a diaper wipe holder. 5 Hours of shopping and that's all we got!!

But Friday night I did find a great deal at Target. I had a gift card from the Sunshine Club for Raygan-Elise. They had a 2-in-1 learning kitchen on sale but not the 50% off like it was marked on shelf. So, I took it up to counter and asked. They sold it. So I got it for $24! Yay! originally $70!! I put it together today. She's not that into it yet, but Reese had fun. He "cooked" soap and played with all the little accessories!!!

She's mobile...he doesn't want to tell me I'm wrong.

Raygan-Elise--- Well, we are mobile. She started trying to scoot several weeks ago and can now go (when she wants to go) anywhere. She is also trying to get on knees and crawl. She made it 3 knee-steps this week. Her other new trick is making a new "rasberry" sound. She has also had a couple of bad days- Coughing, choking, projectile and the pattern goes on and on... Took her to doctor. Paid $156 out of pocket to go over her entire history (new doctor) and for him to tell me it was her reflux acting up and cold. Poor Thing! Also, he says I have to start feeding her again. :) She started baby food about 1.5 months ago, but then I stopped when she kept refluxing and sleeping worse at night. He says that time to start again and start with bananas which she took ok at first. She also tried drinking out of a cup this past week. Didn't drink much but LOVED playing with the cup!




Reese---He is so so sweet. He doesn't like to tell me that I'm wrong. He was in the living room with Hammie and said it was so cold. Hammie told Reese to come tell me that BC Hammie always says its cold, and I say it is not! He refused to tell me. Finally, he came. So, I asked him if it was cold and he said- "Well, just 1% cold." Later he came back and said, "my whole body is 1% cold. My head is 1% cold. My arms are 1% cold. My legs are 1% cold. etc" He was also very proud today that he went outside and played with the neighborhood kids without crying! He is also on Multiplication facts at school. His teacher says that no one has ever got to multiplication this early in the year. He is on the facts for 6, 7, and 8. WOW! He also loves asking ?'s-- Hey, Momma, Hey Momma, or Hey, Daddy, Hey, Daddy...questions always follow! Here he is reading a book:

I have a loose tooth...Want to know about it?

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This story starts back in October when Reese noticed his bottom tooth wiggled. For months he would mention it every once and a while. But then came today...I woke up to the loud sound--"Mama, Mama, my tooth, my tooth, pull it out it hurts." Then, all day long it hurt. It "bothered" him (his words). He hardly ate. He didn't even eat his whole quesadillas, which he loves. Tonight, he wanted it out. We called Poppa, who said he'd come by and pull it tomorrow. But after more hours of listening to it bother him...I decided to just pull it. He got a little nervous, but I pulled. He yelped "ouch" and then touched inside and said "it's gone." For me--Quick and simple! Over so fast! He was surprised by how little the tooth actually is and that his tongue can now fit in the hole in his mouth. He called Poppa and Hammie first. He says- "You want to know about my loose tooth...wanna know about it...it came out!" He told Aunt Joan, "Yeah, but I didn't push it back and forth. My mom just yanked it out." We are excited. He is really wondering if the Tooth Fairy will know it was coming out today since it was bothering him.

Sign! I did! Prevent Early Births like Raygan-Elise's

The March of Dimes has a Preemie Petition that they will submitting. This petition also has a report card for each state as it relates to preemie births. As a mother of a preemie, it is heartbreaking to know that some premature births could be prevented by education and health care to women. With Reese, I went into labor early (32 wks) while at the hospital for my weekly monitoring, and since it was caught so early they were able to prevent labor. Raygan-Elise's birth was caused after PROM (premature Rupture of Membranes) and a low biophysical score. She had many complications due to early delivery- Apnea, Jaundice, Hypoglycemia (IDM), Illeus, and Abdominal Disfunction. Please read and sign the Petition for Preemies. I do believe research would help to discover why many women (like myself) who did have health care, prenatal care, and "followed the rules" still deliver premature. These are pics of Raygan-Elise's NICU stay and first days home.

Please look and consider signing petition. Maybe one day the number of premature deliveries will be reduced.

Christmas fun!

Raygan-Elise loves her Daddy! She has him wrapped. Today, She bumped heads with Reese and was crying. I got her calmed down and happy again, but Brian came upstairs to see what had happened. She looked at him and started crying again. I have never seen such a little baby do that just to get sympathy. My 3's and 4's in my class do it all the time. Start crying again to make a parent feel bad, but never a little one only 7 months old. We all laughed b/c it was so so cute!

Left to Right: Sister, Anna, Cousin, Shaun Leigh, Brother, John, and Me

L to R: Anna's son, John Aedon, Reese, Raygan-Elise, and Hammie

Reese laughing at the autographed book, Charlie Peanut, that SL gave him. They kept calling it naked peanut and would laugh so hard.


Raygan-Elise loves putting anything in her mouth, so she loved all the wrapping paper!!

I cannot believe another Christmas has come and gone. This was an unusual Christmas b/c for the first time ever we didn't have it at my Ruru's Christmas Eve night (which is our family's tradition) . But this year it was moved up one week b/c my Uncle Bill was getting married on Dec. 27. We had Christmas with the S.L. and family on night of Dec. 20. S.L. had the house decorated so cute! She made individual Christmas tree cakes and had the kids ice them and decorate. We opened gifts and enjoyed food and drinks! As S.L passed out gifts, Reese kept looking at Tags and then finally asked "Who are the Free Mans?" Of course, Freeman is their last name and the tag said From, The Freeman's. Everyone laughed so hard. I guess in 6 years we have really never taught him last names in our family except ours. That became a joke throughout the night and the next day. Raygan-Elise loved trying to eat the tissue paper and bags. I tried to take cute pics of them together but never got a great one. We stayed up late and spent the night at S.L.'s. The next day we had Christmas at Ruru's. It was a mad house as usual. Lots of family! This year we had to have it in the small den, instead of living room. That was strange. It was also strange having it on Sunday afternoon, instead of Christmas Eve night. We had a vegetarian meal b/c after shopping they left the bag with turkey at store. Then, the butcher replaced it with a frozen one. Everyone buys for the kids, so they had tons to open. Reese enjoyed it so much. And everyone kept joking-- That is from the Youngs, that is from the Kings, etc. Raygan-Elise was very overstimulated and cried and cried. So, Mom took her into the other room, and I opened her presents. She gets upset when there is too much going on in small space! Reese's big present from Ruru, Mamaw, and Hammie was Rockband for WII (which he doesn't have). When he saw it, he said but its for WII. Hammie said, "No! I thought it was for your computer." He said, "It's Ok...Santa is bringing me a Wii for Christmas." And of course everyone laughed!! Raygan-Elise got her first Cabbage Patch kid (a preemie just like her!) from Hammie. Although she opened it after Christmas. On Dec. 23, we visited Brian's Aunt Joan and Mamaw for the day! Again, Raygan-Elise wasn't in the best mood, but the visit was nice and the food was good. Reese loves going to Louisville so he has a blast. They got more toys and cute clothes!! It was very strange not attended St. Elizabeth's packed Christmas Eve mass, but the mass at Holy Spirit was beautiful! And since I was in town, I was able to go to the Hospital and hold Baby Jack (Bethany's little boy) on Christmas Eve when he was less than 12 hours old!! That is such a sweet feeling to hold a newborn on Christmas!!! It was also so much fun for our little family to have 2 children this Christmas! Reese was very excited while visiting family! Of course, he was quiet and shy when seeing what Santa left him. He always is...I think he gets overwhelmed by it all. He just walks in the room and looks around. His big present from Santa was a WII and Wii games and game table. Now, we have all been playing WII for 6 days straight. It is a lot of fun. He also got Magnetics (which he's asked for for 3 years) and many Barakagun items (his new character). Raygan-Elise got a new jumper toy, blanket, soft doll and toys. We got Reese a Ben 10 toy he wanted and got Raygan-Elise her 1st baby doll- a Baby Alexander doll. We enjoyed spending the day together. I was very sad to think that this would be our last time for Brian and I to have a 1st Christmas with a new child. I cried. Now, we have been resting from all our travels, taking it easy, staying in our pj's all day and resting!!! School starts back soon! I think Reese will have WII withdrawals when classes start back, and I will definitely have withdrawals from not being able to stay home with Raygan-Elise and Reese all day! It has been nice!