Kind and Gentle

A couple of weeks ago Dane and I worked in the nursery at church. It was quite crowded and the toddlers seemed especially high energy that morning. But I saw some things that made me really proud of Reed. If he ran into another kid (as I've found toddlers often do) he was quick to stop and give a hug or offer an apology (Saw-ry!). And when I gave him a fruit bar to snack on, he was quick to share it with another little girl who was staring at it longingly. He was gentle with the babies (bay-be) and often stopped to give them a soft kiss on the head. Don't get me wrong, he is a toddler and can be aggresive at times, but on this morning, he was kind and gentle. It was so sweet to see this bit of his spirit. I just love this kid.

Reed goes through phases with books. I love that he loves to read. I want to raise an avid reader. This is a mission of mine. I read to him every day, most often multiple times a day. For weeks at a time Reed will have a favorite book that I will have to read to him several times in a row. Some of those books have been: "Good Night Moon", "Love You Through and Through", "How Do Dinosaurs Love Their Cats?", and most recently, "Love You Forever." This last one is killing me. Most of you know that this book was my mom's favorite and she couldn't make it through without crying....and I must say that I carry on this tradition. And Reed LOVES this book right now. Dane finds it quite amusing, but I don't think it's very funny :/



Me struggling through "Love You Forever"

Now for the other reason that this blog is titled "Kind and Gentle." Dane lost his grandpa earlier this week and he was the definition of kind and gentle. He had such a sweet spirit and will be greatly missed. However, we rejoice in the fact that he is running on streets of gold in a youthful body praising his Father in Heaven. How wonderful it is to know that we will see him again. 

We look forward to Aunt Jeanne and Uncle John coming for a short visit and to celebrating my grandpa's 80th birthday!!! It's so great that Reed can share in the love of multiple generations.

Summer Break

Petting a "doggie" at Grant's Farm.

This week and last was my summer break from work. Reed and I have had a lot of fun, but being a stay at home mom is definitely not a walk in the park. Phew! For example, currently Reed has been in his crib for about an hour fighting a nap. We went to the zoo this morning with some friends and had to leave because Reed threw a huge fit because he needed to share with another child and did not want to. I realized it was time to get him home for a nap, so we headed out. He almost fell asleep on the way home, so I thought, "great, he's gonna conk out for like 2 hours"....wrong!
If he doesn't fall asleep in the next 30 minutes, I'm gonna have to give in and forgo the nap because it will be too late and he won't go to bed. And I hate giving in when it comes to naps. Let's face it, they are not only something the toddler needs, but the parent's need them too. At least we had fun at the zoo though :)
Last week Dane took a few days off and we went to Grant's Farm (one of his favorite places). We had planned on going to Cahokia Mounds also, but took Reed to the pool instead. He has so much fun and we just love wearing him out there. Dane and I also got to go to our first Cardinal's game of the season, thanks to my dad who had tickets that needed to be used while he's on vaca in Canada. It was a 7:15 game and the temperature was only a measly 103 degrees. I think it got down to 93 by the time we left around 9:30pm. Crazy!
We also spent the weekend in Springfield with Dane's family. His Uncle Scott and fam were in town from California and Dane's sister's and I had planned a girls weekend. It was great to see Scott/fam and spend time with my sisters in law talking about babies and weddings, eating s'mores and watching chick flicks.
Now, LOTS of pictures!

Goats at Grant's Farm

Swimming all day makes for a tired boy.

While taking a break at the zoo to eat some fishies, Reed made a new friend. 

Just splashing around at the zoo.

Sporting his shades. 

1st Card's game of the season. It was only 103 degrees at 7pm. No big deal.

Girls Weekend!

One of his favorite seats.

But, it's back to work for me next week. Glad I get to have time off like this to spend with my ever growing little guy. Oh, and you'll be happy to know that Reed finally fell asleep about 5 minutes before I was going to give in. Sa-weet.

19 Months

Today, Reed is officially 19 months old. That's only one month away from 20 months and only five months away from 2 freakin' years old. How can that be?!?!?! Oh my goodness.

Some of Reed's favorite words now include:
Shower
Ooo-ie (this is what he says when he's poopy)
Thank-you
Eat
Cheese
Car
Beep Beep
Kiss
Hug

I'm sure I'm missing something. This list does not do justice to his every growing vocabulary. I swear, he learns at least one new word a day. He's pretty amazing.
He loves to sing and dance. Turn music on and he starts grooving. The other day I was with him in the car. I was listening to NPR (yes, I'm a nerd sometimes) and I realized that he was in the backseat singing a song to himself. He loves to play the piano at Papa and Pat's house and he sings along with the "tub time" song we sing before he heads to the tub each night (it's really creative...the Batman theme song with "tub time" inserted for "Batman!"). My dad--who is a minor expert on the multiple intelligence theory ;)--says that Reed most definitely has some sort of musical intelligence. I guess this means I need to teach him new things in song and he'll learn it faster. I'll have to put that one to the test.
I'm on my summer break for two weeks and am so looking forward to spending some quality time with my ever growing 19 month old.
Here are some pics:

 Working hard at the puzzle. 

 Stained Glass Butterfly. I think it's beautiful :)

 Just rockin' out. 

 I don't even know what to write here....

This is not a cute picture of Reed, but something I wanted to brag about anyway. Newest addition to the dinning room. Pretty nice, if I do say so myself. 

Peace!

Oh boy, oh boy!

I meant to write a post on Father's Day...but obviously didn't. We had a very nice day though. Dane got a coffee mug that says "Daddy's Mug" on one side and has a picture of Reed on the other. He also got a book he's been wanting. We ended up spending the day at my dad's house, just enjoying the company of family. When I got to work the next day I asked some of my students how Father's Day was for them and many of them replied with something along the lines of their dad's not being around for them to celebrate. This was a reminder to me of just how lucky I am to have been blessed with such great fathers: my own awesome father, two wonderful grandfathers, a sweet father-in-law, and an amazing father for my son. Sometimes it's easy to slip into feeling sorry for myself for not having my mom around anymore, but I should remind myself more often of just how blessed I am in the dad department ;)
Yesterday we found out that my sister-in-law, Devan, is expecting a BOY!!!! My first nephew and Reed's first boy cousin. We're anxiously awaiting little man's arrival in late October/early November.
A week or so ago, we found out that my cousin is expecting too! (I don't know if she has made this public knowledge outside of family and close friends, so she shall remain nameless for the time being). She's due in early December, so her baby could share a birthday with Reed. That would make it easier for us to remember the dates :) Babies are so exciting.
Today marked our first pool day of the summer. Reed is such a freaking water bug! He ran right into the baby play area and then kept trying to make his escape to the big pool. When we got in with him he was all smiles. He didn't mind going underwater and when we put him on his belly he began kicking and even threw in some arm strokes. He's a natural! Do I smell swim team in his future?
Tomorrow is mine and Dane's sixth wedding anniversary!!! Can't believe it's already been that long. We'll be celebrating year 10 before we know it. I'm so glad I married him. He still makes me laugh and he is such a great dad. I'm excited to see how our relationship grows in the coming years. It's great to be on this adventure with him.
Ok, here are the pics you all want.

18 months

So, Reed is a little over 18 months now. We had his 18 month check up and he is 25 pounds and 33.5 inches tall. The doctor says he is over average for his height and in the mid-range for his weight. Still long and lean like his daddy. Reed also had quite the shiner on his forehead to show off to the doctor. I was really hoping he wouldn't contact social services after seeing it! Apparently Reed did a face plant on the sidewalk at the babysitter's that morning. At least he wasn't sporting it the weekend before when we had the wonderful Amy Woodrum take Reed's 18 month pictures.
I realize most people don't take 18 month pictures, but since Reed's birthday is in the winter it's nothing short of torture for him to have to stand outside for an hour in the freezing cold (however, don't think this will stop me from taking 2 year old pics...it will just toughen him up right? good for his character.) so I thought that if the weather was warmer he'd be happier and we could get some more/better shots. I think my plan worked. And Amy is amazing (did I mention that already?). We took the pics at a farm. It was beautiful. I haven't gotten the CD yet with all of the awesome shots, but she did post some teasers on facebook that I can share here.

I should enter him in a cutest baby contest. He would win. Hands. Down.

Nothing Much

I don't really have anything exciting to write about. We're pretty boring people. I had a good Mother's Day. Dane and Reed got me a charm for my pandora bracelet. It has hearts on it because they love me.
Reed is saying so many real words now! His vocab is 30+ at this point and he learns 1 or 2 new words each day. Some of our favorites are:

Really
Shoes
Poop and Toot (yes, I blame his dad for these ones)
Yeah (this he says in response to most questions posed to him)
and the best....
Seriously (he says this and it's super cute...seriously!)

He's a pretty awesome kid. He gives great hugs and loves to give kisses too. Such a kind heart.

Anyway, I know you check out my blog to see the pics of my super cute child, so here they are:

 Front facing. So much better!

 Thumbs up for swinging!

I never said my child wasn't just a bit strange.

Just taking the dog for a walk. 

Reed is learning how to feed himself. I'd say he's doing pretty well ;)

Easter and other exciting stuff...

I had a wonderful Easter break. I was lucky enough to have Thursday through Monday off and I got to spend a lot of fun time with my awesome 16 month old. He's so much fun....(unless he's hitting or biting me but that's a whole other story--suffice it to say that Reed is figuring out how to express himself and we're trying to figure out how to teach him to express himself a bit nicer). Anyway...the weather was nice and his mood was, overall, pretty great. He took great naps and played to his little hearts desire.

Easter was nice too. Our church is about 30 minutes away from our house and Reed usually falls asleep on the way home for a bit, but when we put him in his crib he goes right back to sleep for a couple of hours. We had planned for this to happen so Reed would be well rested for Easter at Papa's...but Reed had other plans. He did not fall back asleep at home. So, we tried again at my dad's after lunch....Reed did not fall asleep then either. This kid did not take a nap, but was gratefully distracted and entertained enough by the people at Papa's that he didn't get to grouchy. Thank God!

And although there was no Easter egg hunt, Reed and Dakota got to hit golf balls with Papa and then hunt for them in his back yard. Same thing, right?

And the other exciting news you say?!?!? Reed's Aunt Devan is pregnant and his Aunt Darci got engaged!!!!
Here's to things to look forward to :)