One Fabulous Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve at the Reese house began with some fun in the kitchen.  We decided to put together a gingerbread train as a fun family project.  Then, we ate a quick lunch before going to see a family movie together.  We went to see the new Narnia movie, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and Evan loved it, of course, because it had a dragon in it!  Mommy is a long time fan of these books and loves seeing the stories on the big screen.  After the movie, we went to the grocery store for a few necessary things before we headed back home for a little rest.  Daddy ordered a pizza for supper and picked it up just before the pizza place closed for the holiday and then we headed to our Christmas Eve service at church.  Church was a beautiful and wonderful experience, especially for Mommy and Evan.  The message showed how God relentlessly pursues us like a mother pursues her child.  The pastor read a special little children's story that you may have heard of called "The Runaway Bunny," and Evan sat on Mommy's lap to listen.  It was so sweet.  Then, when "O Holy Night" was performed, he had his little hand raised.  I don't know if he even realized it, but it just looked like such a beautiful show of worship.  After church, Evan was very tired and fell asleep before we got home.  He woke up when we came into the house and wanted to help make a birthday cake for Jesus after putting on his pajamas.  He did help mix the cake, but after it went into the oven, it was bedtime.  Mommy finished decorating the cake, and then Mommy and Daddy helped Santa set up some of Evan's presents.  Mommy and Daddy finally crawled into bed at about 12:30 and dreamed of sugarplums all night long!  ;-)


Helping Mommy make the gingerbread train.



Sampling the icing!



Pretty boy in his dinosaur pajamas!



Mommy had such a good helper.



Naughty boys have been eating the icing.



And the evidence is all over their teeth!



Evan shows off the finished product.  I am surprised any candy made it onto the train.



Helping Daddy make a birthday cake for Jesus.  He chose chocolate!



Pouring in the ingredients. 



Using the mixer is his favorite part!



The cake is ready!



Evan shows off the cake proudly. 

Big Boy Reade is 2!

A couple of weeks ago, we celebrated our youngest nephew Reade's 2nd birthday.  We can't believe how big he has gotten.  You do not have to worry about this boy taking care of himself.  He is one tough cookie! 





Balloons!



A cute safari themed cake!



Reade goes on a safari.  He was perfectly content with the zebra he found!



Evan found a lion and a tiger, but he seemed fine to just keep the tiger.



Evan and Reade hang on to their treasures.



Cousin Lilly and brother Lanny had to capture about 5 animals a piece.



Reade loved being out in the woods and hunting for his animals.



All of the kids enjoying the feast.



The birthday boy was hungry after his big safari hunt!  Yay for cheetos!



And so was Evan!



Reade blows out his candle.



Time for presents. 



He got lots of new presents and new books to read.  He is such a smart boy and already recognizes all his letters, numbers, and sounds. 



Pretty boy! 

Deck the Halls

 Well, the halls are decked at the Reeses and the house is ready for Christmas.  It has been for a while, but this post has just taken me a while to get on here. 








Fresh garland on the staircase...smells so good!


Our stockings are ready!



Evan decorated his own little tree.

Evan's Christmas Program

 Evan's school put on a little Christmas show for us again this year and sang some of their favorite Christmas songs.  Then, the parents joined the kids for a Christmas lunch.  Mommy made it just as the show was ending, but Daddy got the performance on video thankfully.  She enjoyed her lunch date with her handsome little man. 


Evan and his buddies sang "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer," but Evan was the red nosed cowboy!



Mommy and her sweetie!



Daddy and his little buddy!

22 Weeks!

We are at 22 weeks and into our 5th month.  I am feeling the little man more and more so I know he is getting stronger and more active.  It is so hard to believe that next year, he will be crawling around and getting into the Christmas tree.  I just can't imagine what our home will be like with two kids.  I will be surrounded by boys!  I will be so loved! 

I don't think there is any way I could hide this pregnancy now.  He is about the size of a spaghetti squash (I'm not really sure what that looks like though), and weighs almost a whole pound!  He should be beginning to look more like a little newborn and less like our little alien baby too.  We are looking forward to enjoying this special Christmas with Evan...his last as an only child! 

Reflections on a Busy Year!

Things Evan accomplished this year:


1. Fully potty trained before he was 3.



2. Learned to write his name and other letters.



3. Rode on his first plane…and flew it too! ;-)



4. Met his Great-Grandma…and fell in love!



5. Traveled across the country and saw Giant Sequoias and Redwoods, Napa Valley, and the Golden Gate Bridge.



6. Started playing sports…soccer and basketball!



7. Learned to ride his bike all by himself!



8. Learning to read…a work in progress!

9. Learning math…a work in progress, but he does grasp the concept of adding up objects.

10. Becoming a big brother. Well, the baby may not be here quite yet, but he is already the BIG BROTHER!




We think this is quite the list of accomplishments for a 3 year old.  He just amazes us everyday!

Evan's 1st Trophy

So as you may have noticed, Evan's sporting activities have been off to a great start.  Today, he finished up his last day of the YMCA basketball clinic and received his very first trophy.  It has a nice place of honor in his room.  He did very well in his last basketball game where he scored 3 goals and helped his teammates score too.  He has learned so much about basketball and teamwork the last 6 weeks.  We look forward to many more sports adventures with our big boy now!


Evan doing his warm-up exercises.  This is the "blast off" exercise!



He's so serious about the game.  One parent said he was like a little adult!



Playing defense!



The team get their trophys and proudly show them off!



There's our champ!



He was so proud!