Reese @ 18 Months

Well, we've got a little peanut on our hands. I knew she was small, but I didn't know she was 3rd percentile small!

Reese's 18 month stats are:
weight: 20 lbs 6 oz (3%)
Height: 32.5" (75%)
Head: 18.5" (70%)

We have to take her in for a weight check next month, and then if by 2 years she isn't back on the growth curve, we will have her tested for allergies, thyroid problems, and a few other things that I can't quite remember.

She definitely does NOT lack in energy though. She was born ready to keep up with her crazy big brother. These two do not sit still for 5 seconds around here!

A few things about Reese right now:

*She loves shoes.

*She loves singing and having people sing songs to her. Her favorites are Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, The Wheels on the Bus, and If You're Happy and You Know It.

*We call her "monkey", and she IS a monkey. The girl climbs and crawls on everything. She actually has her brother beat in the bumps and bruises department.

*She loves to be chased and loves to hide.

*Her sassy attitude is still going strong. She has mastered the art of glaring.

*Even with her sassiness, the girl knows how to melt mommy's heart. She gives hugs and kisses at the perfect times.

*She talks a lot, new words everyday and even full sentences. But... I'm not sure anyone but us can understand her yet. Her current favorite word is "mine".

*She is a most definitely a Daddy's girl. She really likes men better than women overall, but Daddy is her favorite person in the whole world.

*She loves books. She gets to choose a book from Maddux's bookshelf every night for bedtime.

*She is a pretty good eater. There are a few things she doesn't like, but for the most part, she will eat anything and make a good mess of it!

Happy Halloween!

My sparkly witch with an attitude...My muscle man Captain America...

For those who AREN'T sick of hearing about the Ragnar yet...

This last weekend I ran the Las Vegas Ragnar with 11 of the coolest girls you'll ever meet. It was worth every second of early morning training and planning that went into making it happen. Truly one of the most challenging and fun things I've ever accomplished!!

I want to be able to remember so many of the details from this race, but I would have to write a book to get it all down. I'll just jot some of the highs and lows (because there were certainly both)

LOWS:

• Getting only 1 hour of sleep from Friday morning at 4:30am until Sunday at 1:00am. This was the most uncomfortable hour of sleep in my life. In the driver's seat of a 15 passenger van. Steering while in my knees, and no room to stretch my feet through the gas and brake.
  

• Aubry eating the asphalt/dirt/rock at the end of her 3rd leg. She was rocking it down the hill so fast and lost her footing at the exchange. She went down faster than anyone had a chance to figure out who it was. She sprained her ankle, got road rash up her leg, cut open her elbow, and ripped open her awesome zebra pants.
  

• Eating dinner at the Cheesecake factory between runs #2 and #3. Why is this a low, you ask? I ordered my absolute favorite meal (Shrimp Franschese) and didn't get to enjoy one second of it because it was taking every thing I had to sit up at the table. It's not fair to not be able to appreciate a meal like that!
  

• Getting lost as the driver when we got on the freeway going the wrong directions for 20-ish miles trying to get to the next major exchange.
  

• My 3rd leg. 6.4 miles on a "dirt" road. It was more like a gravel/dirt/rock road. My headlamp was going out and it was pitch black (about 3 or 4am). Twisted my ankle more times than I was able to keep track. When vans drove by in the dirt, it was like running through thick fog and the dying headlamp didn't help. I ended up mooching light off of a fellow runner as I ran next to him for the last mile or two.
  

HIGHS:

• Spending time and laughing with 11 of the most amazing girls I've ever met. You would think that a 5-6 hour drive to Vegas and back with 12 girls in one van would equal disaster, right? Not even! We had a great time and even cried together (happy tears)!

• Getting up at 4:30am to drive to the starting line with my van. We got to cheer on Lauren as she started the whole adventure out for our team. I got a little choked up!

• Running through the finish line with Sarah (our final runner) on the very last leg of the whole 188 miles. Our team met up with her for the last couple hundred yards and we all ran in together. Again...choked up (what a baby!?).

• My 1st Leg. 7.4 miles in blistering miserable heat with 1 unmanned water station. The hills were killer and it was still the best 7.4 mile run I've ever had. I felt strong and pumped up! Loved it!!! PR 8:18 average.
  

• Getting all gussied up for a night on the strip in Vegas. We all showered and got cleaned up at Planet Hollywood, then walked to dinner at Serendipity. Bit of a mistake though because we ended up as 12 hobbling girls trying to get up and down the stairs and the Strip. We called it good after dinner and hung out in the hotel instead. :)
  

• Ragnar Amnesia. I'm pretty sure I heard at least half of the girls (myself included) say we would never do this again. Who's idea was this anyway? On the drive home, we are all figuring out when we can plan our next Ragnar. It was that amazing.

A few of my favorite pics:

Busy Bag Swap

We had a Busy Bag Swap at my house last night. I'm so excited about all these new activities for my kiddos.

13 of us chose an activity that fits in a ziploc bag (easy to grab on the go). Everyone made 13 of their activity and brought them to the swap. We all left with 13 new things to keep the kids occupied!

My kids have been playing with this stuff all morning. Now I've got to hide them so they are still exciting and new at church and doctor appointments.

First Field Trip

Maddux had his very first field trip last week. His class went to Vertuccio Farms and it was so cute! The kids had a blast and even the moms got to get in on the fun.
I cannot say enough how much I love Maddux's preschool and his teacher, Miss Jenny!

This thing was pulled by a tractor all around the farm...

Powell

In August we met my parents and Kasey and Joel at Lake Powell for 4 days. We had a blast and 4 measly days was NOT enough time there. There were so many fun, hilarious, relaxing, and scary parts to this trip, there is no way I can document it all on the blog, but here's to trying...

Maddux and Bop Bop swimming. We all did a lot of this with the kids...

It has been a LONG time since Drew has wakeboarded or I have skied. If felt so good to be back at it again...

future wakeboarder...I hear, "um mommy, you come help me please?"Reese and Vander were such little buddies. It was so cute. Both lived in a diaper and they played all over the inside of the houseboat...It was so great to spend time together without work or school :) Family hike to Rainbow Bridge. When we got home, Maddux told Aunt Jessica that he got to walk to a rainbow! Reese exploring... (quite the outfit, eh?)
Brave little boy. I know this doesn't look high...but for a three year old, it was about 3 times his height. I seriously could NOT believe he loved doing this so much!

The slide was his absolute favorite part of the entire trip. It was also the scariest part of the trip. He was running from Uncle Joel and jumped onto the slide so fast that only one leg made it on and the rest of him was hanging off. He cartwheeled from the top of the houseboat to the water hitting the slide, poles, and the railing all on his way. We were SO lucky that everything hit on his life vest and his worst injury was a severely bitten tongue. It was one of my most terrifying mom moments. The mouse debacle of '11. We found one of these guys on the deck one night. Then we saw more on the deck. Then the suckers started figuring out how to get IN the houseboat. The boys had fun trying to outsmart the mice :)

Dentist

Today was Maddux's first ever dentist appointment. We have been talking about it for weeks. Yesterday we even watched Sid the Science kid - an episode about teeth! He has been begging - BEGGING to go to the dentist. He woke up this morning and asked me every hour if it was dentist time yet. I started to get a little worried, because even though I had painted the most realistic picture of the dentist for him, I don't think he really understood.

I was right. We got there and he was SO excited to see a room full of toys. He played for a few, then came over, opened his mouth and asked me if his teeth were clean. I answered yes (we had brushed them just before going in). When the hygienist came to get us, he immediately started crying that his teeth were already clean and he didn't need to go! This was just the start.

He cried through the x-rays, cried when they had him lay on the table to watch Dino Dan on the ceiling(which is his absolute favorite show), cried when they tried to polish his teeth, cried when they tried to just brush them instead, then went absolutely hysterical when the Dentist had to put "medicine" on his teeth (fluoride maybe?). In the middle of all of it, there were a few quiet times when he let the Dentist "count" his teeth. But I had to be holding on to him and he had to be standing up on the table. It was his way or the highway. I was willing to hold him down, but the hygienist said not to make it a traumatic first experience. I think we failed there. Traumatic for me or for him!?

Before:

Can you tell he is terrified? (below)He is STANDING on the table and I'm holding on to him with one hand, taking this pic with the other...Can't wait till February to do it again! :)

Organizing - one step at a time

Ever get that chaotic feeling like your house is a mess no matter how much you clean it? I'm there. I have decided it's because everything that you CAN'T see in my house has become completely unorganized. So, my new goal is to fix it. One room at a time, one week at a time. Project #1- My office. It was the WORST room in the house, by far!

I didn't even dare to take pictures of the true "before" because the piles stacked all over the desk and the floor were just humiliating. The bins on my shelves were overflowing with who-knows-what and I could never find a thing!

My amazing mom came over and helped me conquer this one. It really did take us ALL day!

Before (but more like halfway through):

After: