Randoms

I've been working with Bria on her handwriting and letters, she gets frustrated very easily (and so do I) so it's been a difficult process but we are both getting better :)

She wrote her name all by herself for the first time today!

I was jumping for joy, not only did she do it by herself, but she has better handwriting than her Dad some people. She now requests for handwriting time and I love that. We do it during Reese's nap.
Yesterday the girls were feeling a little better and I took them for a walk to the park to try and take advantage of the sun. It was still cold out but I think the girls really enjoyed their time outside, we were all going stir crazy.

Pondering life

Love her eyelashes

Silly Bria

And what is with 3 (almost 4 year olds) running around in their underwear? I thought for sure that phase would skip over Bria, but as usual I was wrong. She begs to be naked everyday and thinks it is the most fun thing ever. I mean, being naked is fun but it's cold!

I am super grateful it's Friday and we don't have plans this weekend. Hoping to get lots of cleaning done whilst relaxing...not sure how those will happen together but we'll see.

Influenza in da house

Blerg.
It seems both my girls got the influenza bug according to the doctor. We took them in last night at 6 pm because their fevers were so high...104.
The picture pretty much sums up how Reese was acting all day long.
Last night she slept with me and I went back and forth between cuddling her and soothing Bria. To top it off Brian has a cold.
When it rains it pours!
We had to miss a Valentine's party at Weston and Bennett's house today and I am incredibly bummed. Hoping this sickness passes quickly!

Our weekend

Included lots of time with friends and tons of laughs:

• Went down to Salem to hang out with the Woods'
• Brian got to help Jimmy build a fence which he loves to do, anything with tools and beer and he's in
• The kids jumped on the trampoline until their toes were frozen
• After the kids were in bed we played Quelf (funnest game ever!)
• Then watched Pitched Perfect, more laughing ensued

Little Lucy checking out Reese's feet

Lucy's gorgeous eyes

Erin and the big kids

Cute friends

Sunday we went to Dehlia and Joe's for a superbowl party and Bria got to spend hours playing with all her friends and watching kid movies.

Bria asked me this morning where we were going and who was coming over, she now believes we should spend every day with friends :)

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!