Happy Birthday to my beautiful 4 year old!

Four years ago, at 7:14, our lives were changed for the better.

You came out screaming and kicking, earning yourself an apgar of 9,

which was amazing for a "34 weeker".

You continued to amaze us and your nurses,

with your ability to "make your needs known".

Sitting by your side during the day

and leaving you each night got harder everyday.

Singing to you "Jesus loves Reese" helped to get us through....

especially the part "little ones to Him belong, they are weak but He is strong".

Finally we got to take you home and learn how to parent you 24/7.....

You decided to make up for lost time and made sure one of us stayed with you

ALL day and ALL night ;)

Now you are our beautiful four year old,

who still never wants to leave our sides,

but does, to do brave things like preschool!

You love to hear stories of when you were a tiny, tiny baby.

And we are more than willing to tell you of how Jesus has held you close all the days of your life.

We are amazed all that God has done in just four short years!

We love you with all our hearts Reesie Ry!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Helping Mom

Currently, this is my version of extreme couponing:

I am sure I don't save as much as I could, but I bet I have more fun! :)

Morning time

Our morning time often includes:

Reese's new/old love: listening to books on tape/CD,

bible reading with daddy,

and on a good day, playtime with sister.

Mirror image

First "Camp out"

Last week Thursday, after a good mexican dinner downtown, Reese had her first sleepover at Grammie and Gramps' house.

They have been offering this all summer....and Reese has been working up her courage to do it.

She happily packed her bag....which is mostly dolls and stuff animals.

But when it was time to go, her smile turned into this worried look:

She went back and forth all dinner long about where or not she wanted to go through with it.

Finally, after ice cream and a walk through town, she decided she was going to try it.

The hardest person to say goodbye to was..... Maleah!

She did very well, ended up sleeping all night!

She woke up the next morning, turned off her sound machine and "Came right out like a big person mommy!"

She was so very proud of herself!

And just last summer I was getting my courage up to leave her overnight for a girls weekend in Leavenworth....things sure change in a year! :)

Happy 10 months (and two days) Maleah!

Maleah's opinion and personality sure did come alive this last month.

And she is army crawling even faster!

But she prefers to walk...as long as she has two fingers to hold on to.

She can't quite stand on her own yet, so walking is a ways off....but she is working at it!

Maleah loves to copy what you are doing.

And have you copy what she is doing.

She enjoys watching the occasional "Praise Baby" and "Signing Time"

And as for signing she can do: more, all done, and doggie....all the important ones.

She consistently says Daddy, Mommy, sister and doggie.

As far as playing on her own, Maleah is no longer a fan.

I did not work with her on this before, because she did it so well naturally.

Well, that has changed.....she will play on her own for about 10 minutes....something we need to dig in and work on...for her own good.

This month's picture was the hardest to get yet.

Maleah kept trying to face dive off the couch to get down and move.

So we put the marker on her back.

And she does love to "chase" that dog.

Lucky for him it is still a slow speed chase.

Lastly, Maleah LOVES to dance!

She usually dances during meal time.

She will dance if you sing.

And big sister loves to sing....so it is a good combo!

We love our growing girl!

I remember.....

9-11-01....waking up in the Smelley's home (where I was living that semester) seeing the TV on, which was rarely on, asking what had happened. "Plane crash...." Oh, I thought....not understanding what was happening.

Heading downtown Santa Barbara to State Street....going to go to the stores to get started registering for our wedding...Matt was to fly down the next day so we could do that together....finding all the stores closed and not understanding why....

Calling Matt in frustration, and he let me know his flight had been canceled. "Why? Because of one plane crash? It is not like this hasn't happened before!" Feeling very frustrated and annoyed!

Heading back to the Smelleys....watching more TV....starting to understand what had happened....

Out to XC practice, running and chatting with the girls about the events of that morning.... processing with them.....

Stretching out after our run and realizing how weird it was to not see a single plane in the sky....

Feeling unsafe in our country for the first time ever....feeling like anything like this could happen at anytime, any where.....full of fear.....

Watching, hearing all the stories of all the hero's of that day and the next couple of days....starting to feel safe again in our country....

We will remember how that day changed us....it helped me look outside my little world, my "to do list" and see the much bigger picture.

Crawling

Maleah army crawled across the kitchen floor to get to Sebbers who was napping on the carpet.

But he was not wanting a visit from the baby, so he got up.

And the chase was on.....

He watches as she makes her way across the floor.

"All I want to do is pet you buddy!"

Maleah loves doggies....

(Well actually "doggie" is the word and sign for any animal...a friend has chickens and Maleah was signing and saying doggie for them too. ;) )

Oh well....let's go check out the heater/ac vent.

(Heat pump = heaven! Cold in the summer and warm in the winter and our heating/ac bill WAY lower than before we had AC!)

She loves to feel the "breeze".

Time to see what else I can find.

"Hey mom...you missed a spot here!"

And all that took place in less than 5 minutes! ;)

Wagon ride

Took the girls out for a wagon ride after dinner.

Maleah loves doing things with her big sister.

Maleah did well sitting in the big girl seat, but she was working hard to keep her balance.

So when Reese got out to walk the dog, we put Maleah in a more stable spot.

But she missed her sister...."She was just sitting right here...why did she go?"

Big girl and her dog

Reese loves to be in control...what first born doesn't?

She has taken a liking to walking Sebbers.

He is a patient old guy.

And he LOVES to go for a walk...of any kind.

A happy dog and a happy preschooler.

In the background, Maleah admiring her big sister, watching her every move.

Very thankful for this doggie!

The Art Closet

The art closet used to be the toy closet....to keep the toys organized and out of sight.

But that was not working.

The toys were being forgotten = many "I am bored" statements.

The art supplies were out in the open = Reese starting many a project without asking for help when she needed it.

Plus I could see that very soon Maleah was going to be starting "projects" too.

So the toys came out and the crafts went in...

Not totally done yet, but still in working order.

Needing another trofast (from ikea) for the back.

Need to hang a few things to help display the art work...but other than that we are set!

I love this shoe organizer for all the little crafty things.

We even put a stool next to it so Reese can reach most things.

And the things she needs to wait and do with a parent are now too high for her! :)

The paper was always every where before, as Reese searched for the colors she liked.

Now she can get it very easily.

And her bags used to hang on the door knob and were always "escaping".

Now they rest peacefully on this hook...a hook that is removable should they need a new home, or should I change my mind. :)

This side has things we use for school.

Yes Reese is going to preschool but we still have fun doing school together.

My teacher friends and I have just starting putting together folders like this for school time.

Reese loves them, especially the princess one I printed her yesterday.

"Can we play princess school games again?" :)

So organized!! I just love it!

Today is the first day of school for the kids here....can it really be September already?

I may not be going back to teaching this fall, but my classroom is all set up and my students are eager to learn! It is fun to be a teacher still.