Bed for 4

I just want to apologize to my parents for all the times when I would tip-toe into their room in the middle of the night, stand at their bed whispering, "Mom" until they woke up scaring the crap out of them. You never realize the reality of things until you are a parent yourself. To put it in family blog G-rated language, paybacks stink! Last night, I really hadn't been asleep that long when I suddenly woke up and noticed our bedroom door was open....we never leave it open. I turn around and about fall out of bed....there was Reese standing at the side of our bed...scared me to death. When I asked her what she was doing, she said, "I want to sleep with you." Where was this coming from??? She never does stuff like this. I swore our kids would never sleep with us, however sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. And at 2:49am, I did what I had to do....she joined the party. Where was she going to go though? There's barely enough room as it is for Chet and I to sleep UNcomfortably since Cru and his boppy pillow take up the majority of the bed. She managed to nestle in beside me, I laid perfectly still because any movement would send me rolling off the bed. Every time I'd open my eyes to see if she was sleeping, I would see these big blue eyes staring at me. Every time Cru would move, she would gasp and say, "He's waking up." Every time I would just fall asleep, I'd hear her say, "Where are my jaguars?" When Chet's alarm first went off, I asked her if she wanted to go back to her bed because she was so sweaty and cramped, and I was so uncomfortable! She said no, but finally around 6am she was ready to go back to her bed. It's now 9:50am and she's still sleeping. Hopefully, that was just a one time thing. But you know, as I crawled back in bed at 6am, thankful I'm finally going to get some sleep, I look at Cru. He looked like an angel, so peaceful, and I thought, it's the little things like having your kids sleep in bed with you that make being a parent the greatest thing in the world....then I fell asleep.

Future in banking?

My dad has now owned Dirt Cheap Banners for almost two years, which means it's been almost two years that Reese and I have been making trips to the bank. When we first started going, Reese wasn't even a year old and definitely wasn't walking. Look at her now, she's almost three and basically runs the place. This is where she learned how to type, met lots of new friends, and collected lots and lots of stickers. And I thought I couldn't get her out of there then, now she gets to have tea parties! Thank you to all the wonderful people at Home State who have been so kind to Reese. She loves you all! Here some pictures the ladies have taken of her over the past year.

Reese has become particularly close to Carol. I knew this when Reese was at home playing with her telephone, and she said, "Hello Carol. How are you? I love you too, Carol. Bye!"

Loves to type (even though she doesn't look like it).

Where she first learned that "R" is for Reese.

More stickers, please.

My baby is growing up way too fast! Notice, they even taught her how to properly hold her cup.More tea, Donald?

Lil' firecrackers

So finally, I'm able to blog again! Yes, that means we got our new laptop...yay! No more annoying pop-ups and a monitor that shows full picture!

The last time I posted pictures was last week when Reese got her tap shoes. Since then she has started dance class. It went almost exactly as I thought....she is so fascinated by other kids, that she just watches them. So, while the other girls were stretching, leaping, pointing their toes, doing whatever little ballerinas do, Reese watched. Once the instructor physically took her hand and went skipping across the floor with her, she kinda decided it was more fun to participate. I kept telling myself that all the other girls are 3 and 4 years old, and she's still 2. At the end of class, she said she loved it and wanted to go back next week. We have some practicing to do before then!

She looks like she's ready to dance

Our family had a great 4th of July! Every year we go to Lindsborg to the Chambers family pond. It was fun to see everyone and for Cru to meet the members of Grandma Reese's side of the family that he hadn't met yet. After good eats and watching kids light fireworks, we headed back to our house for the big fireworks show. Both sets of grandparents joined us. I have to say, the Wall Park fireworks show was kinda boring compared to our neighbor's show. How fun is it to watch other people literally "blow" hundreds of dollars and not you? Reese wasn't really into firecrackers like I thought she would be. I took her to get sparklers and poppers, which she was totally excited about, however all she wanted to do with the poppers was unwrap them and dump out the "food." Good news, we have leftovers for next year. Cru handled it all pretty well even the super loud homemade boomers down at the pond.

You're so serious, Sissy

Trying the poppers

Happy 4th of July!I could not resist the matching outfits...do you blame me


Who cares about firecrackers, lets play!

All eyes on Sissy

Hugs from Christian

Reese begged to go out on the paddle boat, so Grandma and I took her only to get stuck and have to be pulled in.

Hangin' with Grandpa

Yes, that is one role of black cats...go big or go home!

Nick and Isaac's pad at the pond....jealous, huh?

Back home watching fireworks with Gma Cheryl

4th of July wasn't Cru's only first of the weekend. He also attended his first baseball game....can't believe it took us this long to get him to one. We all went to watch Uncle Ty coach the Broncos. I think he was in his element because he was such a good/calm boy. Well, at least until the ride home. He screamed and screamed. Daddy is beginning to rethink our trip to CO at the end of the month.

Reese was asked to draw the winning ticket

A lollipop for being such a good helper

Wow 2:10am, it's late...or early? Cru doesn't sleep in like Reese does so I better get to bed!

Coming soon

I've got lots to post about, but because our computer is about to poop out, I'm waiting to post until we get our new laptop. We have one picked out, but of course at the last minute, Chet wanted to check one more place before pulling the trigger. Well, it wasn't exactly what we wanted, so hopefully this evening we'll purchase the one we originally wanted and have no more worries about it. Stay tuned!

Tap, tap, tap

That's the sound I have been hearing nonstop since yesterday afternoon. Not someone tapping on the door, Reese tapping in her new tap shoes anywhere she can around the house. She starts dance next week, and I finally made it to Wichita to get her shoes. When I told her we were going to get dance shoes, I don't think she quite understood what I was talking about. And she still didn't understand even when she had them on because all she did was shake her booty. So I found some hard flooring in the store and showed her. Oh boy! Now these are dancin' shoes!

Technically, it's not dress up

Yesterday, we were playing in Reese's room, and we decided to have a little fun with Cru....a little accessorizing. Shhh, don't tell Daddy.

Finally

Lets swim!

After I put her in the car, she said, "Do you want to run errands with me?"

Splish splash

Cheese

I love your pool, Grandma!

The mermaid pose

Sweet Maddox

Take the picture, Mom, we have swimming to do!

Reese and Carter, what a sweet pair

I can't believe it's practically July and this was our first weekend in Grandma and Grandpa's pool! On Saturday, once Daddy got home from his golf tournament, Reese and I couldn't get over there fast enough. What fun! Audrey, Chelsea, Carter, and Maddox joined the fun. It had been a while since Reese and Carter had seen each other, so I think they had fun catching up. I think Reese really missed him because when it was time to leave, she wanted at least 5 hugs from him. And what a gentleman, he gave her one every time she asked.

We went back Sunday for more pool time. Cru was even ready for the water, kinda. When we left the house, I had him all ready in his swim gear, but when we got to Grandma's, he was passed out. Thinking he would only sleep for 15 minutes, Reese and I headed outside and we told Grandma just to bring him out when he woke up. He slept all afternoon! Grandma brought him out when he finally woke up, but he wasn't too excited about the water. He wanted food, go figure. We thought it was good time to go in for the afternoon. Next summer he'll be more into things. Still made some memories though.

First time in the water

Just get me a bottle!