15 months (but really 16 months)

I scheduled Reese's 15 month appointment awhile back and I don't think the girls scheduling excels in mathematics because she said it had to be after January 26th...Reese was born on September 21st...yeah I don't get it either.
But oh well, she had her appointment yesterday and is looking superb:

Head: 18.5 inches (60th percentile)
Length: 30.5 inches (50th percentile)
Weight: 20 lbs 6 oz (5th percentile)

No wonder she falls over and bonks her head all the time, all her weight is in her head! The doctor was concerned about her weight, when I told her she eats like a horse and out-eats her older sister at every meal she was very pleased to hear that and said as long as she is eating well than it's not something to worry about. She did say to switch to whole milk for her to try and add a little weight.
I did have her look at her birthmark because I'm concerned it's changing. She has a large birthmark on her right shoulder and there are a few different colors to it, it has black hair growing out of it (poor girl!), and it's incredibly sensitive...I have to put ointment on it twice a day or it gets very bumpy and dry. The good news is that it doesn't bother her at all. She referred us to a dermatologist so that we can keep on eye on it and said it's possible that a ways down the road they would remove it. Brian and I talked that we would like it to be her decision whether she wants it removed or not.

Alright, more stuff about Reese at this age:

• Great sleeper, she goes down incredibly easy for naps and bedtime, it is AWESOME! Naps are usually around 12:30 and she sleeps about 2 hours, at nights it's 7:30-7:30, praise God!
• Copies everything Bria does
• Wants me to read books to her all day long, she will grab a book walk over to me and back it up onto my lap. 
• Claps when you finish singing a song
• Is a pretty good eater, she has gotten a little picky but nothing compared to her older sister...or her Dad :)
• Says quite a few words although most are only understood by Brian and myself
• She does understand quite a bit and listens pretty well
• Thinks the bath is a great place to poop (Seriously, Bria has NEVER pooped in the bath so this is new to me...and gross)
• Carries around a baby most the time and will kiss her every once in awhile, it's so precious. Then she rolls around on the ground with it, puts a diaper on, and wraps it in a blanket, such a lover.
• Loves to be chased and tickled
• Doesn't seem to have a volume button, she only knows VERY LOUD
• Demands a kiss and hug from Brian when he leaves for work and screams for joy when he gets home
• Is a tornado and makes a mess wherever she goes :)

Bria told me the other day:

"Mom, thanks for carrying Reese in your belly."

It was so sweet. Then she had me rolling on the floor when she said this:

"Thanks for pushing a funny baby out."

Wow, I don't even know how she knows some of this stuff. But I'm glad I pushed a funny baby out too :)

Can't believe it's been 16 months since this

How did this tiny little baby newborn

 

 Turn into this spunky monkey?

Crazy!

Sisters are just the best...

Ya know how growing up you loved your siblings but also hated strongly disliked them? Well, if you didn't have siblings I guess that might sound harsh to you, but it's true. 

I just didn't realize the love/hate relationship started so soon. Sometimes my girls fight like there is no tomorrow and I spend all day playing referee between two blonde, hair-pulling, brats cuties.

But lately there has been more of this:

 And this:

 And this:

 And it's nice.

By the way, when did Bria get to be so big? She is going to be 4 in less than a month!

This weekend we headed down to Albany for a surprise party for Kyle (my bro in law), he turned 30! We had fun celebrating at Laughing Planet (a restaurant in Corvallis) and spending time with the family. Today was also Schuylers birthday (my other bro in law) so it was fun to see both the birthday boys :) Happy birthday guys (I'm almost 100% that they don't read this blog but I still want to send my love publicly!), so lucky to have such hilarious and handsome brother in laws and wonderful dads for my nieces and nephews.
Speaking of nephews...

"Hiya, I'm Jax and I'm freaking adorable."

Tomorrow is another special little boys birthday...my nephew Gabriel! He is turning 2 and just got christened today.

Cutie!

Heather, Marna, and David flew out to Kentucky for it and we were there in spirit. We here it went fabulously and Gabriel was a superstar. Congrats Jon, Sara, and Gabriel, such an exciting day!

Tangerines & Bilingual Bria

 Reese loves the little Tangerine cuties that you get at Costco and usually has that for her morning snack. The other morning I thought it was adorable because she moved the plate from the little princess table to the chair, then carefully crawled in the chair around the plate and put it on her lap.

I was the teacher helper for preschool last week and usually Brian watches Reese...well he had a pretty important meeting and remembered at 10 pm the night before. I freaked out, but luckily I have some pretty amazing friends and when I texted Amanda she said she could come watch Reese.
I was beyond grateful!

Reese and Weston having a dance party

This week I've been kind of blah, not in a bad way, just not feeling creative in the Mom department. There has been more tv than normal. Hoping next week the energy bug bites me ;)
Switching topics randomly, we learned on our drive to Sunriver that Bria can sing French apparently. We now make her sing this to us:

Reese cracks me up, she loves trying to mimic Bria.

Storytime with Dad

Alright, it's time for my morning coffee, have a great weekend!

Bang bang

 On Sunday Brian and I went on a date, not our normal dinner and a movie, we went shooting. I have never shot a gun before and I've been begging Brian to take me for awhile. He wasn't reluctant, just didn't know how serious I was.

I was serious.

I had a lot of fun. The gun was louder than I thought and definitely gives a little kick, I also had a harder time aiming than I thought. I figured I'd be a natural right away ;) 

The handgun was definitely my favorite to shoot, although the shotgun was cool and I had better aim with that...it's hard to miss with that thing.

I was a little apprehensive about shooting the shotgun. Worried about how hard it would kick and how loud it would be...

But I survived :) 

I got use to it and enjoyed shooting it after awhile.

I'm looking forward to going again soon. I want to feel comfortable shooting a gun...just because I think it's important.

While we were away, Aunt Heather came to play with her girls and they all had a great time.

Loves her Woody and Jessie still :)

They went for a walk to the park

Then I did this:

7:35 pm rocks!

Surprise!

 This beautiful lady is my Aunt LoAnn...Lanie's Mom. She recruited my Mom and I to help plan a little surprise party for Lanie and we were thrilled to help.
First, her parents and brother surprised her by flying in and walking into her apartment. Then, the next day they all came over and Lanie thought it was just us...but a bunch of my family drove up to wish her a happy birthday.
The cool part was that we got to celebrate Jenny's birthday too, double birthday party :)

Jax looking handsome as always :)

Reese and her Yaya

He works out ;)

"Mom, she said she was gonna eat my cheeks, are you gonna just let her?!"

Beautiful Brinley (Lanie's youngest)

Kissing cousins ;)

Jenny and her doll

Uncle Brian and Jax chillin together

Grandpa loves his babies

Cake is good

Lanie and her hubby

The kid table enjoying some delicious homemade chocolate cake...thanks Mom!

Storytime in the reading corner

Grandpa feeding Reese chocolate cake

The birthday girls!! I made them drink out of our fun Benihana glasses

Wonder where Jax gets his big blue eyes from?

My sweet, smart, and gorgeous cousin.

Happy 29th Lanie, one more year in your twenties! :)

The end of an Era

We said goodbye to a dear member of our family last week. Our little yellow bug :(
I bought her when I was in college and she has been such a great car. But it was time to move on and let someone else get some good use out of her. We needed more of a family friendly second car and it was just time.
We will forever remember our sweet yellow bug, whenever we see one Bria yells, "That's just like Daddies car!" She cried when I told her we sold it.

Good memories in the Bug, maybe we'll own another one some time down the road.

But for now we are incredibly excited about our new addition:

A very reliable and very pretty Honda Accord. Neither of us have ever owned a Honda so we are really excited about this purchase. Shortly after we got her I was thinking that it might make more sense for me to drive it and save on gas money. I love our QX but she is a gas hog! Seriously, I get like 13 miles to the gallon and every time I fill her up I barf a little. Brian's work is 4 miles away so we decided to switch cars. I think the girls will miss having a tv to watch but I think they will survive, I did :)

Pajamas are just amazing

I have recently become obsessed with lounge clothes/pajamas.
Don't get me wrong, my love for jeans is still numero uno in the fashion department for me, but I have to say that nowadays when I go peruse Target I find myself searching through the pajama aisle.
I think it's because I am beyond excited every evening at 7:35 pm to take off my clothes and slip into something more comfortable...literally, not in the tv/movie way. Why?
Well, let me tell you.
The girls are in bed and Brian and I get to relax on the couch and do absolutely nothing.
I love my daughters, they are by far the best things in my entire life and I can't kiss or hug them enough (just ask them, they are tired of me and my unending cuddles), but man I love me some alone time with the hubs...and pajamas. And in the morning I spend longer in my pajamas that I would like to admit. Soooo...at least if my pajamas are cute and matching I feel a little better about being a scrub.

These are similar to what I like, nice and warm...slightly sexy because of the print and most of all they are comfortable.

I have another secret to share that I bet you will be surprised about.
I have always wanted to die my hair a purple/pink.
Seriously.
Like this:

I just think it is so gorgeous. Maybe it's because I never did the crazy hair dying stuff in high school, or never did the nose piercing or eye brow piercing or tattoo, but I have this desire to dye my hair this gorgeous color and get a diamond nose ring.
Brian is all for the hair, he says to go for it. But I'm not sure I have the guts, especially since I'm really liking my hair color right now.
I'm sure you are thinking I am going through some kind of midlife crisis, but I'm not. Rest assure I'm still the same girl...just getting braver to do what I want and not worry about people judging me :)

And think I would have some sad grandparents if I posted without a picture of the girls, so here is a cute picture of them playing around:

My blond cuties!

Outside fun

Let's be honest, getting 2 kids all bundled and ready to go outside in the cold takes a long time. So long, that sometimes you whine and throw a mini fit about having to get them suited up. Maybe that is just me, I do have a track record of throwing little fits.

On Monday we got back from a quick grocery trip and the girls were in heaven playing in the falling snow:

 But of course their little hands were freezing so we came in. And then the Mom guilt came and I decided it was lazy of me not to bundle them and take them outside to enjoy the snow.

 Even though they were being super cute inside...

"May we please go outside?"

 I spent the next 20 minutes sweating as I got them bundled up.

 And I was rewarded with sweet and happy little girls.

This cutie could not get enough of playing outside :)

Bria spent 5 minutes outside and then wanted to go back in. Go figure. She's being silly, she isn't really mad.

And then we came in and stripped our winter clothes off and then I mentally swore and told myself our next house will have a mud room.