Big Boy Boots

Someone wanted to wear daddy's boots to school this morning.

Reidproofing

I recently had our home (further) childproofed (by a professional), and I wrote about it for today's blog post at Dallas Moms Blog.  
Check it out here - One Simple Step Can Save Your Child's Life

Snoring

One of Reid's favorite games lately is to pretend to be asleep and snoring.  
I was finally able to catch it on video. 
Oh and we threw in a little bit of belly button action which he also loves nowadays.  We love it too except for when he insists on seeing mommy's belly button when we're out in public.  Uhhh, no thank you!
Enjoy!

Kidville!

Reid is the proud new owner of a membership to Kidville.

We signed up recently for Saturday mornings' Rockin' Railroad class, and the Saturday that Gruncle Joe was in town was our very first class.

Needless to say, the boy loved it!  In fact, the whole family was excited (mommy possibly being the MOST excited of us all)!

Can you think of anything better to do on a cold and rainy Saturday morning?  I can't!

Per mommy's wishes, we arrived early so the boy could scope out the territory.

He was intriqued by the drums and by Bongo, the drummer.

Playing the shy card (but only for a few minutes)

Learning to dance from the best!

What's more fun than BUBBLES?!?!?

For some strange reason, he wanted to put his tambourine on top of the hour glass.

Conductor Chris and Miss Tess tried to redirect with the best of their abilities.  :)

Thanks for waking up "early" to go to the Rockin' Railroad with us, Gruncle Joe!

Gruncle Joe's Visit

Great Uncle Joe spent 2 weeks traveling the South Pacific, and we were happy to have him make a pit stop in Dallas en route back to Florida.  
First thing's first - recover from a flight across the international date line.  Mom's taken that exact flight before, so she knew what the recovery would entail.  
Gruncle Joe arrived to Dallas on Thursday evening and proceeded to sleep until 4:00 pm on Friday!  It actually worked out beautifully because mommy and daddy had to work, and Reid had to go to school that day.  
Once he woke on Friday, we all loaded up and headed to one of Gruncle Joe's faves - Mi Cocina.  The guys wanted to start the weekend off right and what better way than with Mexican food and a few Mambo Taxis!

Saturday morning wake up call

Neighborhood walk (it was COLD!)

Our lil' rockstar

Brunch at Pappadeaux's...have I mentioned how good Reid is getting at eating out?  No iPad needed on this occasion (or at Mi Cocina for that matter).

Making wishes in the fountain

Fun with Gruncle Joe

Thanks for coming to see us in Dallas, Gruncle Joe!  We all had a blast.  

Come back soon!

~xoxo~

Jeff, Michelle, Reid, Baby A, Baby B, Halley & Hudson

Dolls

Who says dolls are just for girls?

Snowbirds

These two have no concept of cold!

Uncle Travis' Birthday Brunch

We celebrated Travis' birthday last weekend at Kozy Kitchen.  One word - YUM!

It was good food and great times with the fam.

Happy Birthday, Uncle Travis!

Grandma & Reid - all smiles!

 With the help of the iPad & our dear friend The Lorax, we actually had our first peaceful lunch out at a restaurant with a toddler (aka. the boy).  Makes meals so much more enjoyable for mom and dad!  

Thanks, my precious boy!

Excited to see grandma's & grandpa's new car

The Grands & the Greats

The Kim Andersen family

New Year's Eve

We returned home from Corpus on December 30th which gave us two days at home to recoup and to get back to our normal routine.  
As I sit here and type the word "normal," I laugh to myself thinking about how our "normal" will be long gone in just a few short months.  Oh how peaceful these days will seem in hindsight!
Jeff and I had illusions of a quiet, relaxing two days at home with Reid, but little did we know it wouldn't start out that way.
Although he was only showing one real symptom (an awful, lingering cough), we decided to brave the pediatrician's office on NYE morning.  The thought of having to wait an extra two days if something was really wrong did not sit well with me, and the thought of having to go to the ER or emergency clinic is at the bottom of my list of preferences as well.  
Little did we know that everyone wanted to get into the pediatrician's office on NYE!    1) sick season 2) it was a Monday and 3) it was the day before a holiday when the office would be closed.  
Even though I called at 7:00am (as soon as the phone lines opened) on Monday morning AND we arrived 15 minutes before our scheduled appointment time of 8:15am, the waiting room was PACKED!  I mean - every.seat.taken - packed (and it's a decent sized waiting room).  
Despite the fact that we were there from 8:00am until 11:00am that morning, I was so thankful we went.  
Dr. D diagnosed Reid with RSV - a very common respiratory virus that causes cold-like symptoms.  And not only had he not gotten over his right ear infection, but he now had an infection in both ears as well!  You'd certainly never know it from his demeanor.  
Poor little guy!
We left the doctor's office with a prescription for breathing treatments as well as antibiotic shots - one that day, one on Wednesday & another on Thursday (in case you didn't guess, antibiotic shots are NOT fun!).  
When we arrived home from the doctor's office, Reid ate lunch & went straight down for his nap.  It had already been a long day for the boy, and it wasn't even noon!
First thing's first after nap - our 1st breathing treatment at home (we did one at the dr's office that morning, however, it did NOT go this well).  
Thank you, Special Agent Oso, for instilling a calmness in our little guy (it continues to be his favorite show)!

 Now that the sickly stuff was behind us, we decided to get our NYE party started!

Spent some time with our creative juices

Then we bundled up to expend some energy on our jungle gym.

I think Grandpa Lou's riding lawn mower confused the boy!

We practiced displaying our age

Played a little basketball

And made a few trips outside to play on the jungle gym

(but the boy is hit or miss with a hat/head covering so we couldn't stay out too long)

Christmas in Corpus

The day after Christmas Jeff, Reid, Halley, Hudson & I loaded up the car and headed south for our Christmas celebration in Corpus.  Reid and the pups did much better than expected on the trip to and from Corpus.  Thank goodness for the Lorax!  It's still his favorite!

Aunt Michelle & Andrew

 Look at that 5 year old...always making funny faces!

 Told you!

 Gabriel's working hard to get Mimi ready for her FIVE grandsons!

 Can we still call ourselves "the kids?"

 Cousins

 Reid's opening one of his Christmas gifts from Mimi

Delivering a present to Nana

 Checking out Uncle Josh's fish

We were impressed that he placed each pellet nicely in the fish tank while feeding the fish.

Regina, Reid & Josh

 My handsome boy

 Grandma DeeDee feeding the boy

 Watching daddy mow the lawn and drink a beer at the same time...what skills!

Helping daddy

 Not so sure about the shoulder ride...

 ...saved by grandpa!

 Time for Santa

 Delivering a present to Nanny

 Showing us how he jumps

Mommy loves new hair products!

 "Reid, where's your belly button?"

 Sisters

Sisters & the four pups

 Excited about his new big boy bike!