My Big Girl

We finally moved Reagan to a big girl bed. I think this was much more traumatic for me than it was on her. Seriously...the first night in her big girl bed winded down with her rubbing my face telling me "It's okay, Mommy" as I'm boohooing at how quickly she's grown up. Hormones anyone??
I was so excited for the big reveal and had Ben occupy Reagan while I got all of the finishing touches together for the surprise. I had my video camera rolling, anxiously waiting for a happy squeal as she saw her new room. What I got...walks in...turns around and says "I go finish watching Dora." For real kid?! Ugh...She's done a fantastic job adjusting to the freedom though and sleeps with about 5 stuffed animals and 5 baby dolls plus 4 pillows. She still just looks so tiny in that big bed. Even with the big girl bed, she still LOVES to nap in our bed. Whatever, nap and we're good.

The last night in her crib. Mommy was very sad...

...obviously I was the only sad one...

Her new big girl room!

We moved the crib into the guest room and I couldn't help but have flashbacks to when we put the crib together in Reagan's nursery. I remember walking by at night and peeking in and thinking how crazy it will be when there's actually a baby in there. Now I can't believe my baby no longer fits in there and another is on the way. While I feel Raleigh move like crazy all the time, I'm not sure reality has set in quite yet. This pregnancy could not be more different than Reagan's. With Reagan I noticed every kick, punch and roll and with this pregnancy I tend to forget I'm even pregnant until contractions kick in after a busy day chasing a 2 year old. Ben and I laugh at how with Reagan she had a full blown nursery complete with a chandelier, wallpaper, custom bedding, etc. This poor kid has a crib in the corner of the guest room. Haha...oh well. I'm the 2nd child and Ben is the 3rd and we both survived. Good luck little Raleigh!

And baby makes 4!

I guess it's officially time to post our fun news....we are expecting a little baby to join our family September 18th! Yay! We are beyond excited for this sweet baby. I am almost 18 weeks along, though I feel like I look  around 25 weeks. Oh well....
I felt the baby move for the first time last Friday (16w3d) and Ben felt it move on Easter during dinner (16w5d). Reagan loves to get in bed with us in the morning and make everyone say 'Good Morning' to my belly. She also thinks there's a baby in Ben's belly and thinks its hilarious when he pooches his stomach out for the 'baby' to kick her.
Just like with Reagan, this baby is already kicking my butt. For the last 16 weeks, I have been hunched over hugging the toilet for hours each day. Pretty awesome. I've pulled so many muscles in my back as a result and have only gained a pound. I guess that's the one perk. While I was so determined to be one of those women..you know the kind...."I feel so pretty when I'm pregnant," "I love being pregnant," "I feel my best when I'm pregnant," I've come to the harsh reazliation...people that just ain't me.
While Ben and I can't agree on a name for this child...suggestions welcome...I feel like I at least should come up with a nickname. We aren't finding out the sex (this is driving my family crazy!), but I feel bad simply referring to the baby as "it". It..see..there I go again...deserves a better name. Suggestions welcome for this too.
It's so funny how when I was pregnant with Reagan, I read every book about every child related topic, my daily BabyCenter updates, I shopped online and in the stores for hours, probably even days, for the right bedding, decor, etc. I have no time to do any of that for this poor kid. Welcome to being a 2nd child I suppose.
It's still such a strange reality to think of my little baby girl as the big sister. She is going to be the best at the job! She is already such a Mommy's helper and loves to play pretend with her babies.
So thankful for the often challenging but always amazingly sweet gift of mommyhood.

Fun in Craft Land

The first two pictures are of a ziploc bag with hair gel and glitter inside. We practiced "drawing" the number 1 and our shapes. She loved it. Who doesn't love a little glitter in their life?

The next set of pictures are of our sidewalk paint. SO easy! Mix water, corn starch and food coloring. Reagan thought it was the best that she had free reign to paint and color on everything.

Ode to the Two's....

Funny how before I had kids when my oldest nephew was 2 and giving my sister a run for her money, I thought it hilarious. In fact, I even said that the 2's are my favorite age. I loved the attitude and that they could talk back to you and tell you what they wanted. Yes, my friends that made me an inexperienced IDIOT! I don't know how my sister didn't smack me when the words came out of my mouth and frankly 5 years later, I still wouldn't blame her for a late reaction.
We are in the 2's.....I mean I had a slight feeling that they are were nearing us around 18 months but ladies and gentleman...they have arrived. Err...yay?
I love my child. Really I do. But I also feel like all of those times I was awful to my mom and she said that one day God would give me one just like me...well.....it's happened. Thanks Mom.
The same qualities that I love about Reagan are the same ones that drives me nuts:independent, strong-willed, determined. Yes, I know I could just as easily be describing myself in that sentence. She is also beyond sweet and caring and motherly to her friends, imaginative, energetic, joyful and brilliant. Even with my frustrations, I cannot say enough amazing things about her. Really I am still astounded daily that she is mine..well..until the fits kick in. :)
After several conversations with her amazing teachers at the church where we workout at and also are involved at MOPS, her sweet teacher recommended that I read Making the "Terrible"Twos Terrific! by John Rosemond. If you have a 2 year old and in need of a little direction/encouragement, I would recommend this book. I'm about half-way through so far and I've come to this insight.....what drives me crazy about her actions is directly related to me. Yep! ME! My prior post was titled my mini-me and boy do I mean that. When I get frustrated and yell...I am looking in the mirror when my precious 2 year old gets frustrated and yells. When I am quick to be impatient..yep..you guessed it..so is my 2 year old. When I am preoccupied with my blog...kidding..I update this thing quarterly, she WILL get my attention. If she's bored, etc...you get the point.
I used to be really good about planning our day: crafts, lessons, story time, outdoor activities, library times, etc. BUT...life happens and at this season I'm just exhausted. We can talk more about that later...I've realized though while I may not be able to be as structured as I used to be and would like to be, she definitely benefits from some structure. She needs the challenges, lessons and interactions to be stimulated. This leads me to the point of this post. Thanks to pinterest and several helpful preschool sites, I've found a laundry list of crafts and activities that I am going to try to incorporate daily...okay..maybe weekly. Let's not get carried away. My goal is to post them on my blog weekly so that other moms may be able to get ideas from them as well.
And to all the moms out there of 2 year olds... get your camo and war paint on and just keep singing Destiny's Child "I'm a Survivor" song in your head over and over and over and over.
"I'm a survivor. I'm gonna make it. I will survive. Keep on survivin'"

Mini Me...

If you ever are curious as to how you sound, just listen to your chatty cathy two year old. Here are the latest "humbling" moments I've had as a mom.


Reagan to Teddy: "TIME OUT Teddy! 2 minutes!" ...a few minutes later....she goes in and corrects her. "You listen to me!"

Reagan to the random lady coming out of the waiting room restroom at the doctor's office: "Did you go teetee?"

Reagan to me: "Listen (and points to her ear like I do mine). Go get Dora panties. Okaaaayyy?"

Reagan to Teddy: "You do not color on the walls..only on paper!" (Poor Teddy hears this one quite frequently and usually ends in another time out)

Reagan to Teddy: "Do you need to go poopoo?" (Teddy then fell IN the potty 30 seconds later...lovely)

Reagan to Emmy: "Hush Emmy! Stop barking!"

Reagan to Ben and Myself: "Stop screaming, Mommy!" (When we're playing chase or being silly)

There's so many more that I'll keep adding as I remember them. A two year old is a great accountability partner on making sure your tone and language are appropriate. :)

Tennessee Thanksgiving

We decided to stay in Tennesse for Thanksgiving this year. With everything going on, we felt it best to stay local. So, we got together with our friends the Dills and Browns and each cooked whatever made it "Thanksgiving" for us. We felt like such adults busting out our aprons. :)
While we missed our families, it was great to spend the holiday with our friends. And I'm proud to say that all of our food turned out great. Good job girls!

Happy Halloween

This is a bit out of order but better late than never.

We celebrated our first Halloween in Tennessee and had so much fun with our friends. We live in the cutest town that always has great family activities for the holidays. Our playgroup met downtown (after an hour...literally...of fighting Reagan to get in her stupid Purple crayon costume that I had made..and had to remake 5 minutes before walking out the door after she destroyed it...never again!) and went trick-or-treating on the square. Reagan loves her friends Emma and Katelyn's wagon and Emma and Katelyn love to pull her around it. It's really the perfect match. So, they had their own little parade on the square. What cuties. Then we headed to Johnson Park to let the kids play and burn off all of the crazy amount of candy they ate.
We decided after the hour battle to get the dumb costume on, that I was not willing to have round 2 on actual Halloween night. Fortunately, Reagan was more than excited to greet everyone at the door and pass out candy. She would run and grab a handful and put it in their bag and then grab a little a little handful and "hide" it on the couch for later. Silly girl.
Here are pictures from our pre-Halloween fun!

We also went to Tom's Farm with our small group. It's a local farm that has a pumpkin patch (like on the vine), hay rides and bonfires. We had a great time. Reagan loved the hayride and getting to go pick her pumpkin off the vines. She is very meticulous in her selection. :)