April has been very exciting!

We have been very busy this month!! I can't believe it's already almost over.
Of course, April means Reagan's birthday. Her birthday fell on a Wednesday this year, and we had her party the following Saturday. She had an absolute blast both days, and I was just as sad as she was when it was bedtime on Wednesday night! For the annual birthday tradition, we took Reagan to the Build a Bear workshop. She decided she needed a monkey. She picked out everything from the headband all the way down to the shoes. Her monkey's name is Molly, and hearing her say the name Molly is so cute I almost wish we were having a girl so we could name her Molly and hear Reagan say it all the time. I guess the monkey will have to do. And yes, she's in a laundry basket in this picture.



After Build a Bear, Reagan had swimming lessons.



This picture is not from her actual birthday...I don't think we took any pictures on her birthday! It may sound sad, but it's only because we were having so much fun! Swimming was followed by dinner and watching Jim play basketball. It was a VERY fun day!




We had an amazing turn out for Reagan's birthday party. I think, not counting us, we had about 18 people here! I didn't know we could all fit in our little house, but we had a blast. It's hard to say which present is Reagan's favorite, but I like to think it's the bike we got her. I'm a little biased though!



Then, Sunday was Easter. We had died Easter eggs the night before, and I hid them while Reagan helped Jim make breakfast on Sunday morning.



She was very proud (and successful) in finding all of her eggs. Then, it was off to church.



It was snowing, so we were late. As a result, Reagan got to sit with us during the service instead of going to nursery. She enjoyed it, I think. After church, we were off to my mom's house. My mom had another egg hunt for her, and her cousin Tanner got to help her. He's still so great with her! I wouldn't expect anything less from him, but that's because I know him. He's extremely patient with her, especially considering he's an 11 year old boy!



They get along great. Once again, she was very proud of herself!



I'm so thrilled to only have 5 more weeks of school! I'm even more thrilled that I won't have to go back until after the baby is born! We haven't decided exactly when I'll be going back yet, but I'm hoping for mid-October. I think we've finally settled on a name, but you'll have to wait until July to find out what it is. I'm relieved that the boy will have a name when we leave the hospital. :)

Hope all is well with everyone, and Grandma Dot, I'm sorry it's been so long since we've posted!!

The Adventures of Potty Training

I can't believe it, but Reagan is quickly becoming a little kid.
We started playing around with the idea of potty training her back in November or so. She's always been curious about the "potty" and hasn't ever been afraid of it. So, I bought her one of those seats that sits on top of the toilet. She LOVED it! She took right to it, and within a week or two she was going #1 and #2 in the potty. So, we made the switch to Pull-Ups over Christmas Break. She did great! But then, she started using the Pull-Ups like diapers. So, last week, I followed my gut, and decided it was time for her to have "big-girl undies". She had 3 pairs that I bought awhile ago, so I had Katie (our AWESOME nanny) put her in them. She did well. So, I went to Target and bought her two more packages. She was SO excited. So, for the last six days she has been keeping them mostly consistently dry. YES!
She is truly so proud of herself. Here's the proof.

In other news, she is talking like crazy...it's truly amazing quickly she learned such a big vocabulary. She can also count to 10 and sometimes 12. She has a couple of favorite TV shows, one of which is Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. At the end they do the hot dog dance, and it's her favorite. She has other favorites too, like the letter W for example. I can't believe she'll be 2 in just a few short weeks!

Boy oh boy!

We had our ultra sound today!
It's a boy!!
I suppose there is something to be said for a mother's instinct...I just knew it!

Here's how it went...
Radiologist (before having the wand on me): "So what do you have at home?"
Me: "A girl. And this one is a boy."
(Wand is on me now, I'm not looking) Radiologist: "I agree!"
I looked at the screen and saw our son (yay!) proudly displaying his boy parts. Ha!

Here are some more pictures:







Here he is practicing the kick part of his kick flips...but don't worry, Uncle Austin, he'll just swim to keep in shape for football:



Reagan is excited, but right now she's focusing on getting over her flu bug. I had it too, but lucky for me, it only lasted about 1.5 days. Reagan is going on day 5. :( Hopefully she'll be over it soon! She thinks her brother's name should be Baby. I think Jim will have to come up with something better than that!

What makes me want to stay home from work every morning...

Everyone has something that makes them say, "Man, I wish I didn't have to go to work today". Maybe it's the weather, having a weekend feel too short, not getting enough sleep, a dog that needs walked, a house that needs cleaned, or even just something good on TV that you don't want to miss. I can relate to all those things some days, but the thing that makes me hate leaving the house each and every day is right here:

Growing, growing...

I was bummed and a little disappointed to log into my blog and see that the "Elf Yourself" dances I made were no longer available. I knew they wouldn't be available forever, but I was disappointed because it has been so long since I've posted!

It has been fairly eventful around our house since the end of December. To make a long story short, I have had some bleeding twice since then...and we're hoping that will be the end of it. My doctor hasn't determined a definite cause for it, but luckily she doesn't seem to be too worried. The good news is, each time it happens, we get to see an ultra sound of the baby! It's been truly amazing to watch baby grow through the weeks. I wasn't going to post the initial ultra sound because it didn't look like anything, but I want to show the progression. Truly an amazing miracle!

Taken at 6.5 weeks; "verification of life" ultra sound:



Taken at 11.5 weeks, after first complication:

(note the arm buds...and face, and how completely different baby looks 5 weeks later!)

Taken at 13.5 weeks, after second complication:

(Jim says I'm seeing things, but I think if you look closely you can see the outline of a profile. If I'm right, this baby will definitely look like Jim!) At this one, we saw definite arms, legs, and even hands.

As you may know, Reagan will be 2 in April. We're already starting to see signs of her "terrible twos", especially when she's tired. She's still our sweet little girl, but in the last few weeks she's become VERY opinionated. But the fun part is that along with her opinions have come words, many many words. It's wonderful to hear her little voice, and to start to get a picture of what she's thinking about.



We went outside yesterday morning to clean up the back yard and I decided some pictures were long overdue. The weather in the last few weeks has been fantastic (high 50's and low 60's), but then on Friday it snowed. The sun came out yesterday, and then it started snowing again. It's been snowing ever since, but it's only just now starting to stick.

In other news, this is the first year in 7 that I won't be coaching track. There is a part of me that is really going to miss it, but the rest of me is so completely relieved! After the two little scares we had we've decided it's best for me not to. Not to mention, I took out an ad for my photography business on theknot.com, a wedding planning site that connects brides with wedding vendors. It was NOT cheap, but it's already proving itself worthy; I've had about 5 contacts for wedding dates since it started at the beginning of January! Unfortunately, 3 of them were way too close to my due date for comfort so I had to decline, but it sure makes it promising! I also made the official request to change to part time employment next school year. If my principal approves it, I will be leaving the classroom for the time being and continue my duties as gifted and talented coordinator and AP coordinator. I'm really hoping it works out. More time at home with is all I've wanted since Reagan was born, and I can only imagine that feeling will intensify when #2 comes along. I should know something this week... fingers crossed!

ElfYourself

I LOVE this. I've done it before, but, as with most things, it's much more fun with a little kid involved. :)

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Catching up

I took these pictures of us decorating the tree a few weeks ago, and I never got a chance to post the blog...

And our holiday (self) portrait:

Merry Christmas from Jim, Amanda, Reagan, baby Lamb and Scout!

Big Girl Bed!

Last night was Reagan's first in her new "big girl bed". The best part about the bed is that it's not new at all. It, and a matching bunkable counterpart was originally purchased for Grandpa Bill and Great Uncle Bob when they were little kids. It was the bed Jim had when he and I first started dating, and now, for the time being, it is Reagan's. She is VERY excited about it. She loves the idea of having a "big girl bed", but when it comes to actually sleeping in it, she's still a little apprehensive. She's currently taking her nap, but she was not very pleased about me leaving her alone in her bed. As you can see, there's no rail on it. I can purchase one, and I still might, but I thought we'd see how she did without it. So far so good-she hasn't fallen out! She loves that she can get in and out of it without any help from Mom or Dad. She slept in even later than usual this morning, so I think we'll be just fine.



Bill and Debbie brought the bed last night, and Bill and Mikey were nice enough to help Jim manuver furniture all over the house so that Reagan could have her first night in her new bed. So, the room that was the office/guest room is now the new Baby's room, and the office/guest room will be in the basement. After I cleaned and organized down there, I remembered what a nice basement area/guest suite we have! Perfect for guests, so come on over!



I took these pictures this morning when Reagan had first woken up.

July 19th 2009!

This is the estimated date when Reagan will become....

Wait for it...

A BIG SISTER!!!

Everything is going fine. I've had a blood test-normal- and an ultra sound-also normal. And, at the ultra sound we learned there's only ONE little Lamb growing, which wasn't a worry, but was exciting to find out. I've been feeling good for the most part, except for when I get home from work. Then I begin, well, not feeling well. But, I can't complain-at least I'm not sick in front of curious teenagers!

There wasn't much to see on the ultra sound, so when we get better pictures, I'll post them here. Reagan is excited and has learned to point to my belly when asked "where's the baby".

October Summary

Somehow, October slipped away from me! It was a very eventful month, which included 2 much needed weeks off.

Here's the month (including the end of September) summary!

September 27th:
It's official! Mikey and Julie are married! Yay, Fosters! Reagan was the flower girl, and she did a fantastic job. (I made her dress myself. The white one, not the plaid one.) It was a beautiful wedding, and a great time was had by all. Mikey got to see Julie in a dress!!! (Just kidding, it wasn't REALLY the first time...the second I think. Either way, she looked gorgeous!)






October 5th:
We broke down and decided to get our house painted. Long story short, we were able to get some of the job paid for due to some faulty siding and a warranty malfunction. It softened the blow to our wallet, and allowed us to get the job done well. It looks amazing!!! I thought I had a picture, but it turns out I don't. I'll have to describe it: it's a very light brown color with white trim and a red door. It makes the house look new, and it's very exciting!!

October 11-13th:
Each fall, something inside of me calls me back to Durango, where I went to college. It's sort of my second home, and now and then I miss it. I have a great friend, Steve, who lives down there and was nice enough to let us all stay with him. We had a great time, and the colors were beautiful!







October Sometime:
I really wanted to take Reagan to a pumpkin patch and let her pick out some pumpkins. I did some searching on the internet, and found one right by Jim's parent's house. It was great, and made complete by a hay slide and goats who let Reagan pet them. Julie was kind enough to follow us around with my camera and take some pictures of the whole family, except for Scout.






October 25th:
Falcon (the high school where I teach) boys Cross Country is 4A State Champions!! YES! First boys state championship in Falcon history. We're off to a multi-state regional in a couple of weeks, and then it's (hopefully) on to nationals! Exciting!!



Halloween!
We wanted to take Reagan somewhere good for her first time Trick or Treating. Each year, the student council at my school puts on a great event called Treat Street. They decorate the school and all the doors with a Halloween theme and hand out candy to the little kids. Rea had a fantastic time, and was the cutest Bronco's cheerleader I've ever seen. (Much more tasteful, too.) The night before Halloween we went to the Fosters' house to carve pumpkins because they got one of the last carving kits in town...and because they have a fun, new house. :) And I guess we like seeing them too.











Hope you had a great October, and that you remembered to vote today!

An Unprovoked Word (YES!)

Today I took Reagan to Target because I needed a new hair dryer.

I was looking in the toy isle for ideas for Christmas presents for Reagan (by the way, if you're an inquiring mind, she needs clothes in size 2 and 3T, and just about any toy from just about any toy isle marked for ages 2 and up. If it is a "Parents" brand, that's an extra bonus...they're my fav).

Reagan spotted one of her favorite things in the world... a ball. I wasn't sold on buying it for her, but when I saw that it was only $2.99 I decided to go for it. I let her play with it in the cart until we got to the register. When we got there, I managed to give it to the checker without Reagan noticing. He scanned and bagged it, I paid, and we left.

As we were headed towards the door, Reagan stood up in the cart (I was letting her ride in the big part) and started to whimper. I asked her what was wrong and she looked right at me and said "Ball?" with her lower lip stuck out. I explained to her that it would be ok, and that I'd give it to her when we got in the car.

She said ball all the way home. I was ecstatic! Let the talking begin.

I just want to know...

When Reagan became a toddler???
I feel like I blinked.
And no, for the record, I still don't regret being excited for her to learn to walk. She has so much fun! And I enjoy chasing her!

I got some new photo equipment--I don't know how I ever lived without it--and I took some of my favorite pictures of Reagan this afternoon as a trial run.

Last Tri

Last weekend I completed my last "tri"athlon of the season. I think this one was my favorite so far. I did it with my friend "J" (she likes to be anonymous...). I hadn't been training because school and pictures had been keeping me so busy, not to mention the icky sinus infection that I got just after school started.

The amazing thing was that my "non training" time was nearly 10 minutes faster than the one I trained extremely hard for all summer! How did that happen??? I don't know, but I know J had a huge part in it. She beat me by about 9 minutes (WAY TO GO! She had been training. Good girl!), but it was fantastic motivation knowing she was just ahead of me most of the time. We stayed together most of the time, but she pulled away from me during the second transition, and lengthened her lead during the run. I was extremely excited, and a little shocked, that my time was so fast. It's exciting to know that I've not yet reached my limits!

Here are pictures from the day:

Found our spot at the transition and we're ready to be marked!

Me and J before the start. We were wondering if it was too late to chicken out on account of the 62 degree water. A little refreshment for you early in the morning!!

Reagan standing by the sign on the beach... Jim's "irony" picture.
The finish!


Thanks J! I had so much fun. :)