Baby’s first Christmas

Reed really racked up this year! Although we chose not to buy him anything for Christmas, he got some super cool gifts from our families. After the extreme anticipation all week, we opened our presents Christmas morning and made the classic mess all over the living room. It was perfect! It was the kind of mess that you have to go through carefully to be sure you’re not throwing away any gifts!

Reed has been “grabbing” more and more, which is very exciting for us. So we would start the paper for him and then he would put his hand out, close his little fist and pull! So cute! He had no idea that what he was doing was revealing a present underneath. My brother and his girlfriend Cory sent him a “Scout” dog. We get to plug it into the computer and personalize him so that when you squeeze his paws he actually talks to Reed! He’s fascinated by the stuffed animal’s blinking blue light on his collar. They also send a little race car thinga-ma-jig. Mike’s parents sent a jumper- which was promptly assembled and set up in the pantry doorway, where we stood there and watched Reed stand there and watch us. We bounced it. He’s not getting it yet, but we’ll keep trying. His walker is a favorite though! It’s a DJ center, so he can pound on the little keyboard buttons and make music. I just look at him standing there, looking all busy and I crack up because he can be so independent! His Uncle David and Aunt Niki sent a few gifts as well. The best is this penguin that wobbles, as soon as Reed can sit up he’s going to be pushing on that thing and going crazy with it, I know.

Speaking of which, Mike’s pretty excited to work with Reed on sitting up while their home together today. Reed’s school is on Christmas break, so Mike’s taking Monday, Wednesday, Friday off for two weeks while I’m at work. It’s a little strange because now his time with him outweighs mine. It’s like a primary parent role reversal! Does that mean I get to be the fun one now?

Back to Christmas Day. After we finished opening presents we packed up and headed to the fire station. I’d done my research and found out which location our rescuers worked and what days and when I saw they worked Christmas day, we knew that’s when we had to visit them.

We baked and decorated some snowflake sugar cookies Christmas Eve as our thank you and they were very grateful. They remembered Reed of course and talked about how upset he was that day. They even honored him with his shiny golden Jr. Firefighter badge sticker before lining up in front of the fire truck for a photo-op. Sadly, I must note here that our good camera is on the fritz. Yes, just in time for the stinking holidays. So, we had to take the trusty old point and shoot. Although Mike has been known to snap a few good ones in his day, this one turned out slightly fuzzy for which I must apologize. They were so kind and absolutely genuinely accommodating. They made sure to tell us multiple times to bring him back as he gets older so he can, “climb on the fire truck.” I have a feeling Reed's friends are going to be mighty jealous.

Our afternoon was spent at the home of our good friends, the Harpers. Keith and Cassie have been and increasingly wonderful part of our lives and I thank God every day for connecting our family with theirs. Okay, maybe every few days or every week. Whenever I get around to it. Christmas dinner was tasty and wonderful, no matter what Cassie says. Don’t listen to her- it wasn’t too cold. That’s what happens with big dinners. Its only natural. (Here is a picture of Reed, strapped into the moby, helping me make devilled eggs.) Allissa, Jackson and Ryan were all there and we had a BLAST playing Ryan’s new game, “Things”. A couple of us, and I won’t say who, almost peed our pants we were laughing so hard.
It was wonderful and we stayed all afternoon and evening. It felt warm and cozy, just like it does with family.
We web cam’d with my mom for an hour the next day and showed her all the cool things Reed got for Christmas. She watched him play DJ as he mixed it up for her. And he even gave her a little laugh while playing peek-a-boo.
Thank you also to my dad and my grandma for the gifts for Reed. He discovers new abilities and is growing all the time so it’s really fun to have all kinds of toys and clothes for him. Sometimes I take him in my arms and squeeze him and beg him to stop growing. Except that I’m always looking forward to the next step, too! I’m so torn, I don’t know what I want!!

Joy to the World

Christmas time is so much fun! It feels like the 12 days of Christmas around here. We have been receiving packages from family all around the country and I'm starting to get really antsy to see what everything will be!

Mike's parents have sent multiple shipments- some unwrapped, but I helped and wrapped them when we got them. Except for the 24 pack of dark chocolate Reeses cups that I received. Yum!

I guess you could say I've been unwrapping quite a few of those! I also had a box show up from my dad in Florida. 3 little boxes for Reed. I box with multiple gifts for Reed from Mike's brother, David. My mom brought a crystal ornament for Reed engraved with his full name and birth info. It's very sweet and will be special to us and him forever.

Reed's Uncle Coy and his girlfriend Cory sent a couple of gifts! We have more presents under the tree than I've had ever since I moved out of my mom's house!

I imagine that Reed won't really understand of course- but I'm sure he'll enjoy watching and listening to us rip the paper off. He gets fascinated by the funniest things. Sometimes when I put him in his exersaucer, he just looks so busy! As if, he was waiting all day for me to put him in there so he could get his stuff done in there. And its very intense- he's only got a short amount of time to do it before he runs out of energy. That's the best way to really wear him out. Usually after spending any amount of time in the exersaucer he will crash for a nap almost immediately thereafter!

I'm overcome with love and warmth this holiday season. I feel like it's the beginning. I have a family of my own and a reason to celebrate! I'm so excited for what Christmas and the holidays mean now and what's in store for each coming year.

Thank you to all of our friends and family who are so special to us. So many people have touched our lives and our hearts. Past and present we are grateful for what we learned from knowing you.

Merry Christmas!

Daring Rescue

It was a very exciting day for everyone. Reed saw his first up close fire truck yesterday. He was rescued by Oklahoma Cities finest- and boy was he appreciative! Raise your hand if you’ve ever locked your baby in the car- with the keys. I have learned a valuable lesson about keeping possession of my car keys. They will forever be with me. After a little trip to Hobby Lobby, I snapped his carseat into the base and closed to door to go around to the other side. I heard the dreadful “beep beep” and my heart lept into my throat. Immediately I went for the door handle thinking I could be faster than a Porshe. No such luck. I peered through the window and to my horror, Reed has already begun to cry. So I think to myself, “Self, what have you done? … and now what will you do?” So I call 9-1-1. It’s an emergency, right? The dispatcher connects me with the Fire Department and they send a rescue team. It took entirely too long. I felt as if an hour had passed as I sit with my forehead pressed against the glass chanting, “Reed, Mommy’s right here. Look at me, Reed!” To which he replied, “WAAA! W-W-W-Waaa!”
Then I heard the sound of the sirens approaching and here comes this massive fire tuck, lights a flashing and siren a blaring. I think they do this so you will be more careful in the future to save yourself the embarrassment of this special kind of rescue. It still took entirely too long. The Porshe was on lock-down and had my Reedster hostage. Finally, using a wedge, they actually pried the passenger door open just enough to hook my keys and pull them out. A crazy way to do it, but it was the only way. I pull Reed to safety and he instantly goes silent and just stares down the firefighters and their huge truck. At that point they’re all smiling and complimenting him, but he’s speechless. I should have taken the opportunity to get his picture with them, but my head wasn’t exactly in that place. As they drove away, some other ladies were standing around and one of them said, “Oh my, that WAS an emergency!” Yeah, like I would call a fire truck if I locked only my keys in the car.
Only then did I call his daddy, who is in Texas this week, to describe the event. Oh, how I wanted to call Mike as I was waiting for them to come! But, since there was nothing he could do, I knew it would only be harder on him and make him feel helpless.
All this after such a wonderful and joyous weekend with Grams! My mom flew in on Friday evening and left on Monday evening. It just feels right when she’s here. I can’t even tell you what I wouldn’t give to have her here. She makes him smile just by looking down at his face. He really strives to impress her and even started the process of rolling over, just for Grams!! Before this, he really had no desire to. He was perfectly fine lying on his back, kicking his legs and reaching his arms out. He may have gotten jealous after watching Sophie roll over last Thursday, but it took him a while to act on it.
We did a lot of playing around the house, but we did have a couple fun outings. On Saturday morning we met Melissa and Ty for breakfast. Ty is getting so big and its amazing to think my Reedster is going to do the same thing. That evening we attended Emily’s cookie decorating party, which was a great time. How fitting that we decorated a bunch of cookies to be donated to the fire department? I’ll have to check and see if it went to the same guys. Reed watched longingly as we indulged in all the sugary goodness.
I’m going to guess that Monday was probably the highlight of my mom’s trip. I went to work and she got to stay home with Reed all day. Just the two of them with nothing to do but enjoy each other! I really don’t know how she can stand it. He’s so stinkin’ cute. It was sad when she left. It always feels too short. I miss her again already.

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A hit with the ladies

There are only about a million things I should be doing right now, but also a million things that I want to blog about! So, I’m going to give myself a few minutes here while Reed is sleeping in his play pen. I’ve already washed and ironed the sheets in the guest bedroom and picked up a little around the house and then tried to write a little in Reed’s baby book – so I’m pretty sure he’s going to be waking up here pretty soon! Although, this blog didn't get posted until Sunday (written on Thursday). The computer decided not to recognize the aircard. No aircard, no internet. I’ve spent enough time trying to make it work and I’m done.

I need to prepare for our evening out tonight. It’s actually a pretty busy day- we’re going to Kelly’s house to hang out with her and Sophie this afternoon before we head over to Chesapeake at 5 so we can get pictures with Santa. Then we have to run home to meet Courtney and Daniel because they’re watching our baby bear tonight while we go out to dinner with the JW group and Mike’s Chesapeake coworkers. Tomorrow my mom is coming! She’s dying to see Reed again and I don’t know if the daily pictures and videos that I send to her phone are helping or hindering!

One thing I wanted to record was in late November we served dinner at the Boys and Girls Club for the United Way. Mike is on the Executive Committee for the Emerging Leaders (and in the Social Committee as well) and we try to be active in volunteering. We did the same dinner last year and had a lot of fun- and it felt good. This year it felt almost as good, just my back hurt from standing there with Reed in the baby bjorn while I dished out the slices of turkey and scoops of stuffing! Mike and I stood side by side in our aprons with Reed tucked under my chin. It was funny the comments people made as they came through the line. They wouldn’t notice him at first and then when they looked up they were just stunned and they’d say, “Wow! I didn’t even see that baby there! He’s so cute!” Well, yes. Yes he is. Last weekend we went shopping at Ross and stuffed 5 stockings for the homeless teens. That was a lot of fun. I guess its easier to shop for people you don’t know! Speaking of which, I’m not done with my Christmas shopping yet. I suppose I don’t need to get anything more for Mike, and I’m probably done with my mom and sister, but besides that I really need to get on the ball!

I keep running out of time at work- somehow six hours, three days a week just isn’t enough time to get my job done! It kind of stresses me out, but the biggest problem is that I’m such a freakin airhead that even when I do get something done I mess it up and have to re-do it, or I just forget things completely. For example, one of my coworkers had emergency appendectomy surgery two weeks ago and my boss asked me to send her flowers. Suddenly it hit me that I forgot to do it, so I frantically log in yesterday and straightaway order the flowers online to be delivered same day! Guess who comes strolling in about 30 minutes later? I confessed to her and begged forgiveness!

Every day I get home and the first thing I need to do is get out of my work pants. I’m starting to wear some other slacks besides my maternity pants so they’re not quite as comfortable. Actually Carrie, a coworker, let me borrow a few pairs that she had lying around from before she lost a bunch of weight. Anyway, the tops I wear to work are usually pretty comfortable because I have to pump while I’m there. So, by the time Mike gets home I’m usually dressed in my pajama bottoms and dress shirt. Mike had coined the new term, “business on top, bedtime on bottom.” That’s me! It cracks me right up!

I know I previously claimed that Reed had his first laugh and I was afraid this was going to happen, but I have to now say that it was more of a “pre-laugh”. Here is the latest story: Monday night I was cooking dinner and Mike was playing with Reed on the living room floor when Reed suddenly started laughing! He kept doing the little squeaky inhale and then actually had the hahaha coming out! I dropped what I was doing, grabbed my phone and went flying into the living room just in time to catch the very end of it on video. I decided that I need a shortcut button on my phone to the video because I just didn’t get there fast enough to catch the actual chuckle. I have invested many hours trying to make him laugh ever since. I just can’t find his funny bone! I get some tiny encouraging noises here and there, but I need to hear that magical sound again! This is the best idea I’ve come up with, you know how laughing is contagious? Well, I went on youtube and searched for “laughing baby” and played a couple videos so he could hear them laughing. I hoped it would work like a charm but he actually looked a little creeped out by it. His forehead wrinkled in a tiny frown and he froze completely motionless. I did my best.

Last Friday I dropped Reed off at school and one of the girls, Kacie, is always just so excited to see him that it really makes it easier to leave him there. She takes him into her arms and kisses his face while telling him how much she missed him. At this point, he doesn’t really care, sorry to say. Even when I pick him up in the afternoons I don’t get any kind of recognition. I’ve stopped expecting his eyes to light up at the sound of my voice, he just doesn’t show emotion yet. I know she’s dying for him to respond to her, too. Its actually kind of funny because it’s like he’s playing hard to get. So, later that evening I was telling Mike about how much I like Kacie and we talked about getting her contact info and possibly asking her to babysit sometimes. Then I start unpacking his bag and I find a note in there from Kacie! I say, “what a coincidence!” Now, I didn’t really think I’d be finding girls’ phone numbers in his bag this early but Mike reminded me that he is a Franklin so I just had to accept it. Her note is all about how she’s so in love with Reed and would be happy to watch him anytime we need, blah blah blah. So I send her a little text and tell her that I found her note and I was glad that she left her number because I wanted to ask for it anyway. We get down to where I ask how much she charges and she responds with “10 an hour.” Okay, I know its been a long time since I’ve baby sat but, back when I was watching kids we didn’t make anywhere near minimum wage. I don’t know when this happened or how, but seriously? Turns out after complaining to all my friends on facebook, that’s pretty much the going rate.

I told her I’d keep her number but what I didn’t tell her is that we have plenty of people who love him and us, and wouldn’t rob us blind just for fun. Right now Reed is the most adorable thing ever and it doesn’t put people out to spend time with him. In a couple years (or months!) it might be a different story and then I know I’ll have to pay people to put up with him, but for now she can stick it. In fact, we have friends banging down our door to get on the list to baby sit. Pshhh. 10 an hour. Who does she think she is? Supper Nanny? Despite my rant, I still like her and I’m still glad that my little guy is so lovable.

Reed's Newborn Photos

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