Sunday, December 4, 2011

Our Thanksgiving

We are so thankful to be able to share Thanksgiving with both of our families every year.  We know how blessed we are to be able to live near family.  I was a very bad memory maker on Thanksgiving day and amidst the hustle and bustle of getting our dishes prepared and getting two kids ready and out the door, I forgot our camera to take pictures of our wonderful feast with the Reese-Hudson clan.  We had a great time catching up with Eddie's Mom, sister, Grandfather, Aunt Homa, cousin Hudson with girlfriend, Lindsay, cousin Jason, Aunt Dava, and Uncle Garry.  We had so much to talk about and many of the family had not yet met Brody.  Aunt Homa really enjoyed holding Brody as she was missing her own sweet grandbabies (and awaiting news of the birth of her newest grandsons, Elliot and Ezra (the twins).  With the births of three new babies in the last couple of weeks, Eddie's Grandpa now has 11 great-grandchildren under the age of 5.  Wow, craziness!  What a blessed family!  And there is still one more on the way next year.  Anyway, I don't want to forget the wonderful day we spent with my wonderful in-laws and the marvelous events surrounding this Thanksgiving season. 

Thanksgiving weekend was very busy with decorating and preparing our home for the Christmas season.  On Sunday, we celebrated Thanksgiving with my family.  The Smith family has also been extremely blessed this year with the addition of 2 sweet babies, little Brody and his sweet, beautiful cousin Cate.  Nana and Papa are up to six grandchildren and counting!  Hehe!  The more the merrier, right? 

Here are some of the pictures I captured of our wonderful Thanksgiving feast mostly prepared by my amazing husband and sister-in-law:

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Daddy's infamous and tasty apple sage turkey.


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Some yummy treats prepared by Aunt Jessica.


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Daddy carves the turkey.


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The adult's table is set.  We enjoyed our meal in the comfortable and beautiful home of Uncle Paul and Aunt Jessica.


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The children prepare to dine.  We really wish our kids could appreciate all of the amazing food a little more, but they are mostly just interested in playing when together.


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The men prepare their plates.


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Aunt Jessica prepares to sample her creations.


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The adult table.  Yes, someone is missing.  Someone's got to take the pictures!


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There's her plate filled with yummy goodness.


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Sweet cousin Cate hangs out with Daddy at the table.  Brody was sleeping in her swing.


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Beautiful girl!


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Thankful for healthy babies!


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Brody enjoys playing with Cate's toys after his dinner.


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Miss Cate loves her playmat and just rolls all over it. 


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And what Thanksgiving is complete without a delicious pecan pie?  Courtesy of yours truly! 


Dear Father in Heaven,

We thank you for our bountiful blessings this year.  Most importantly, we thank you for sending your son, Jesus, to save us.  You are the reason for this Thanksgiving and Christmas season, and we do not want to forget it!  We are so very thankful for the safe arrival of our beautiful, healthy little Brody and for keeping our family together through the good times and the bad.  With thankful and grateful hearts, we ask for your continued blessings in the coming year! 

Love,
The Reese Family

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Brody's 7th Month ~ Almost mobile!

Brody at 7 Months:

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Size: We aren't sure what he weighs this month since we haven't been to the doctor, but we expect it is somewhere around 18 to 19 lbs. He wears a size 3 diaper and mostly 6 to 9 month clothes although a few pieces say 6 to 12 months.  The cooler weather means he is enjoying getting bundled up more now.

Developmental Accomplishments: Brody still only has the 2 bottom teeth.   He has been sitting without support for the last two months.  He isn't crawling yet, but when you place him on his tummy to play he will reach and twist and try to get a toy out of reach.  He is working hard to push himself forward and trying to lift that tummy off the ground, and he can turn himself in a circle trying to get something.  He definitely experiences "stranger anxiety" as he knows when someone new is holding him.  At Thanksgiving, he met lots of new family, and when they held him, he would look at them and his little lip would start quivering and he would look around for Mommy or Daddy and even shed a little tear or two although he didn't cry much.  He loves standing up while holding Mommy and Daddy's fingers and Daddy is teaching him to take steps.  Ha!  I have also noticed that he likes to bang on objects (like my computer keyboard) and can grasp objects in both hands and bang them together.  One of his favorite objects to play with lately is a cup so maybe we will teach him what to do with a cup soon.  I also swear he is starting to say "mama" and "dada" in the proper context.  When he cries and is fussying when he is tired, he often says something that sounds very much like ma-ma-ma-ma when Mommy is holding him.  He also screams out "Ma!" when Mommy is cleaning his nose or doing something else he doesn't particularly like.  Last week when we were in the kitchen getting ready for Thanksgiving, I had put him in his high chair to play and watch us work, and when Daddy had to leave to go to the store for a minute, he reached his arms toward the door and said something suspiciously similar to "da-daaaa!"  We think he is going to be an early talker like his big brother who said many words by the time he was a year old. 

Sleeping: Although he has been sleeping through the night for most of his life now, nap times are still a little rough.  He is just too busy to want to take long naps during the day.  By 6:00 in the evening, he is exhausted though and usually passes out until we give him his bath and his final bedtime feeding. 

Eating: He still loves to eat, especially baby food! He has now tried baby organic yogurt and some mixed fruit baby foods.  He still eats two jars a day, but we may move up to three soon.  He usually gets 4 bottles of formula (6 oz. each) a day with cereal, but we think breastfeeding has about come to an end so he will need more.  I have been happy that I have been able to keep up breastfeeding this long with our crazy schedules, but my milk supply has been diminishing quickly lately.  I was pumping at work, but now I can barely get an ounce when I pump.  I am glad that it has been a gradual process of weaning us both from this precious process.  I have cherished our special time together, but I just want him to get what he needs.  It is really proving difficult for Mommy to let go of this special time with her baby.  He is really growing too fast!


Some pictures from Brody's busy 7th month: 

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Brody with his best bud!


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They have so much fun together.


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And enjoy being silly together too.


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Yep, Mommy adores him!


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Beautiful baby.


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He loves a blankie!


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Seriously, I have never seen such a happy baby!  We must be doing something right around here!


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Of course, he is the happiest when big brother is around.


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And big brother just dotes on him like little old grandma.


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"Who you calling pretty?"


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"Me?"


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Nana pays a visit.


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And Papa too.


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Cutie dressed for church.


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So cute and happy.


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It's play time.  He's so busy these days and loves playing with his trucks and tractor and animals.


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And finding things to put in his mouth of course.


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Now this is some good food.  Blueberries Beets & Bananas...yummy!


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"Mmmmmm....purple stuff is good!"


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All dressed up and looking fine!


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So sweet.


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Handsome boys ready for church.


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Brody started taking baths in the big tub with big brother this month.  He does very well sitting up.


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Awwww, so sweet!


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I do love that face!


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Loving his teddy bear from big brother.


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Big brother loves him!


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Mutual affection!

More Preschool Fun

This month has been just full of fun events for Evan at school.  Mommy is sad that she can't join in all the fun, but she does enjoy getting to hear about all the fun and definitely enjoys all the pictures she gets from his teacher.  I am so happy with our choice of preschool, and I think Evan is too! 

GYM TIME

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Evan loves getting to do gym with Mr. Charles. 


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RECYCLING IS FUN!

For the second field trip of the year, Evan's class got to go to a local recycling center that puts on quite a show for kids.

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This wolf taught the kids all about recycling and his trip to outer space.


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Some unique recycling art.


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This tree was made from recycled products.



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Evan sitting with some of his buddies watching the show.

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