Birthdays and Portraits

Sam and I celebrated our 64th and 31st birthdays this month. We had special visitors to help us celebrate. Alyssa and Slaton came to Houston the weekend of August 1st. We had such a nice time and were so glad to see some of our Abilene family. They arrived Thursday evening and we hung out until Sunday afternoon. Reese and Slaton had a blast together and made more noise in our house than I have heard in a long time.

Slaton ran around the house and Reese did her best to keep up, laughing and yelling all the way.

Here is a little bit of what we did...

Friday we took the kids swimming at Mom and Sam's.




This was Reese's first time to wear her floating suit. Unfortunately, we could not find arm floaties during our Wal-Mart run.








We did find noodles though! Without the floaty or the noodle, Reese would have dipped forward too much.

Slaton also dove for rings with his goggles.




I got a great workout swimming around the pool with Reese.

Saturday morning we took the kids to have their picture taken. Courteney Miller, who took Reese's 3 month pictures was able to meet us on short notice. I was thrilled! I had grand visions of snapping pictures of Slaton and Reese holding hands, walking down the path, playing and laughing outside among the trees, ducks and flowers. Boy, was I dreaming! Reese was not in the mood for taking pictures and would hardly let me put her down. Slaton did well until the end when he had enough. By that time, Reese warmed up a bit, but I think we only got one shot of the two of them! I felt like the morning was a waste, but our talented photographer captured the most precious moments of our children and family.

I do not have the cd yet, but you can check them out on Courteney's blog: http://courteneymillerphotography.blogspot.com/

Scroll down past the Mini Session post to see our pictures.

Thank you again Courteney! You amaze me, and I love the moments you caught for us! You captured the personalities of our kids. Looking forward to next time.

After a long morning :) we rested and got ready for the birthday dinner celebration. Sam was unable to join us for dinner, but we had a nice time at Escalante's.

After some good Mexican food, we joined Sam back at home for presents and cupcakes!

Happy Birthday Grandpa Sam and Mommy!!!

Thanks Alyssa and Slaton for coming all the way to Houston to see us. We had a great time and can't wait to see you during our upcoming Abilene trip.

Reese's 18 month obsessions...

Reese's current obsessions are comprised of the following:

Checking out anything of Mommy's: travel bag, purse, make up, you name it. She entertains herself so well. My things are very interesting you know! She loves to put things back, when asked, after she is done playing with them. It make transitioning to the next activity so easy because she puts the object away and moves on. I'll bet she learned this at school!



Q-tips became her obsession of the evening during this particular search.






Laughing out loud.




Observing what's going on around her at the Kemah Boardwalk.

Giving high fives!

Playing on the scale and with the softlips (lip gloss).

Reading a book after climbing up on the couch all by herself.

Blowing bubbles and sharing with Super Puppy.

Wearing Mommy's shoes.

Daddy, you've got a Diva on your hands.

Sitting in big chairs.

Rolling containers back and forth across the table to Mommy.

Unscrewing bottle tops.

Hanging out with the girls at BerryHill.

Looking just like Daddy and snacking on the island. Everyone we meet says, "She looks just like her Daddy!"

Taking Mommy's hand and leading the way.

Going swimming at Grandpa Joe's.

Sporting her yellow tutu.

Eating Goldfish (no picture shown for this obsession). I have to hide them, so she will not eat them all day long!

Other news from this month:

- Reese weighed in at 26 lbs and was 34 inches long at her 18 month appointment.

- She loves to help Mommy and follows instructions well. When asked, Reese will shut the door, put her milk in the fridge (with help opening the door), put things back where they belong when she is done (like her tooth brush and my makeup back into its bag). She understands so well and has been minding too. She doesn't react to the word "No" as much as she used to. By that, I mean she doesn't cry, she usually listens and minds us.

- She has said more words including up, ruff ruff, buckle and more using the sign too. We continue to work with her and repeat words over and over before following through with an action. For example, when she grunts for something, we say the word for what she is asking for and try to get her to repeat it. We went ahead and scheduled an appointment with the speech therapist for Friday, August 21 to get their thoughts and advice.

- Terrible two's have subsided a bit...hope I'm not jinxing it! :)