Sick babies....

So how can I tell this story with compassion and my normal sense of humor??

(Disclaimer: I love my girls and I feel bad about poking fun but these are family moments that just happen so you might as well laugh versus cry.)

On Friday Kim came home and told me that our sitter's oldest boy had the stomach bug thats been floating around for a while and that we may end up seeing that manifest in Reese this weekend. Well.....it did. Saturday morning I woke up to look at the monitor and see Reese sitting up in her bed and just seeming sort of out of it. I go in and do the normal Good Morning song that we sing to Reese and she really didn't smile all that big. I pick her up.....she yakked. Not big but vomit nonetheless. I sort of do the ucky baby hold and keep her away from my shirt and we walk in to see Mommy still sort of waking up. Notable! Reese had slept until 8am so I was shocked that she had slept in and then gotten sick....I figured the bug would have made her stir a little sooner.

So, we get up and start the day and feed Reese after the "episode" and move on. A little baby food and a little bottle and a little later.....erp. Projectile vomit all over her little walker that looks like a lion. It was pretty massive....applesauce and formula drip from the lion so Kim grabs Reese and I grab the lion. It needs a shower....and so does Reese. SOOOOOO we give Reese a little bath and clean her up and go through the motions and I clean up the "vomit slick" that Reese laid down and spray everything with Lysol and hope that we're peaking the hill. Oh, did I mention that the whole time this is going down I'm trying to install a new ceiling fan in the sunroom/playroom? I've got stuff all over the floor so anytime you move quickly you have to be capable of doing sprints around the debris field in the living room.

I climb back up the ladder and start to do some stuff only to catch wind of a HORRIBLE smell. Oh no...its coming from the other end now...baby diarrhea!!!! It stunk so damn bad! Let me explain....Have you ever smelled something that stunk so bad that it almost smelled hot? Does that make sense? I mean it smelled like something that was simmering in funk. Grab her up....take her back upstairs and get ready for the unveiling of one of Reese's worst diapers since she was born. WHOA!!!!!! Did it deliver!!!

Kim took charge but I was right there with her and it was horrendous.....then it happened. Kim got the juicy jaws. You know the feeling...that sudden burst of slobber before you get ready to erp....the mouth sweats, juicy jaws....both are pretty interchangable. They describe the situation to perfection. Kim was overcome with funk but her own stomach issues were setting in. Oh brother.

Reese's diaper looked like something our dogs have puked before. It was different colors, textures, shapes...it was a pandora's box of poop. Kim was visably shaken...she has never done that before with one of Reese's diapers but her gut was in flux so it was highly expected. We clean up the lava filled cesspool strapped to Reese's bottom and go back down stairs to try another stab at normalcy.......sniff sniff....she's at it again!!!!! Well, not really. She had a little extra lava in her shorts and it was not an assplosion...thank you Tara for the term. We love it.....BAAAACK downstairs again and Kim starts folding clothes and I try to finish what I started....Kim succumbs (spelling?) to the stomach bug....she erps.

Not in the floor but she gallops into the bathroom and proceeds to cough and spit. That's her deal. She doesn't release the hounds so to speak but she just coughs and spits a bunch. Could it get any better? A sick wife...a sick daughter...

Well, we made it through the weekend without any major issues like Saturday morning......oh, until Sunday night. Right before bed, Reese turned into a puke fountain. She threw up all over Kim, all over the sofa, all over the little sofa pillows......it was awful. It was quite scary to be honest but after speaking with a nurse today, she felt like we had probably fed her too much and she was just done with it. A small burp turned into a spit up that wouldn't stop. So today...we're slowing it down a little so the baby girl can eeeeeeaaaaassseee back into eating again. We think she's fine now and appears to have held down a small meal from tonight but in all seriousness, say a little prayer that Reese will get over this bug soon and we can stop washing towels by the hundreds after cleaning up the mess.

If you ever have the time to revisit an older movie from my youth..."Stand By Me" there was a scene in there from the pie eating contest....I felt like I was in that scene this weekend....I love my girls but I was actually glad this weekend was over. I'm ready for a new attempt and rest and relaxation.

Same cute little girl.....

There is little more than five months difference from the bottom picture to the top and yet she still take the sweetest booboo pictures.

My camera isn't at fault here...its all operator error but I almost like the effect that the blur creates. There is something purposeful about it...like I meant to do it to create interest or something. Nah....I didn't. Just got a quick moving baby girl that loves to get in Daddy's face when he's snapping photos.

Big 'ol picture post.....the bathroom. Finally.

So last fall Kim allowed me the privilege of learning a hard, hard lesson. She gave the seal of approval for me to destroy the bathroom and re-tile the shower and floor. In my glorious ignorance, I accepted said task and what happened will forever be burned into my mind as the worst thing I will have ever attempted or will likely ever attempt in terms of home renovation.

If you ever want to re-tile something....don't. Contractors charge so much because it truly sucks that bad to lay tile. And HGTV doesn't show you the hell between the before...and the after. Why? Because HGTV is in cahoots with the building supply places and they make tons of money off of morons like myself that believe I can do anything if I only read a book on how to do it.

I want to be completely clear on this....I opted out of the shower installation because while I am half way handy...I'm not stupid. If it leaks then that's MY fault....it ain't an easy fix. So I didn't tile the shower or the tub surround but I did the floor with absolutely zero experience in laying, cutting, grouting, or handling tile....period. But the finished product is pretty ok if I do say so myself....enjoy the 9 Circles of Hell as seen from my camera through this renovation.

BEFORE.....

White shower with tile only head high....plenty of cracks that cannot be seen.

The tub with the useless and cumbersome step. It served no purpose other than to trip and maim.

The unique transition from one tile to another...beautiful. I was sure that this was a design element until I began to rip up the tile around the toilet....this tile was grouted and set in kryptonite.

 

When I would rinse....all of this BROWN painted sheetrock would be soaked. BROWN....like poo poo.

Beautiful scum in the grout lines.....ahhhh yes. Shower with mold and scum....I love it.

Nasty looking insulation.....be GONE!!!!

The tub and the nightmare of tools on the old vanity.....

 

Tile starting....

 

 

 You've never had fun like this....I promise. I mean this is good times.

 

 

 Showing some signs of progress.....

 And now for the final product.

 

 

 

 

 

  

So there it is....the mistake that I'll never make again. I'm only half kidding. There is some amount of satisfaction with doing something like this. The floor and base mold are my handy work and the installation of the vanity was by a pro as well as the counter top and mirror. 

A quick story about the counter top...our neighbor that watched Reese for a while came over one Saturday to see the renovation and she looked at what is obviously a granite counter top and asked, "Now what is this?"...I assumed that maybe she was not versed in the varieties of hard surface counter tops so I proclaim "Granite." Where as she promptly made me feel like mud by saying...."No, I know that...what is the name of the style?" Holy crap...you know your granite enough to know the names and what the styles are? I felt like a shithead. There. I said it. If you ever read our blog Krissy...sorry about that. I didn't mean to imply that you were a granite virgin. My bad.

I assume that we will pull or normal nomad-like ways and depart from this house once we decide that another child is in order but I assure you.....In fact I will proclaim to you on this blog that I will NOT be laying tile in a bathroom....EVER......AGANE. (misspelled on purpose so as to sound all hoity.)

Thanks for waiting patiently :)

Updates...

So nothing earth shattering has been happening over the last couple days. The weekend went by too fast and that pretty well sums it up. We did a little shopping Saturday and then Mom and Dad came down Sunday and Reese was great both days but it just seems like life is in a time warp right now. I really love cold weather but I'm almost in the mood for summer now because the days seem longer and getting things done isn't such a tough task.

The only major thing on our radar is Reese's photo session with Kristin Leigh...I think that's her name...and then the one year birthday party. It's so incredible that she will be one soon but it's just par for the course right now. I expect to wake up and be in my 70's the way things are going right now.....

The pics below are "Warp speed Reese" and of her playing in the hand towels.

 

 

Happy 10 Months Reese!!!

So we're a day or two late but our little Reese was 10 months old on the 27th....only two more months and she'll be one year old....where in the world did this year go?

Happiness is....

I've been threatening to do a series of posts called "Happiness is..." for more than a year now. Not really to anyone on the blog but just to myself...to sort of enforce the idea that being happy can come from any number of things.

So what is Happiness and am I happy? Well, these posts are meant to take a look into a life that is simplified to its core. Simplified to the point that a picture can speak volumes...the attempt is to show you what makes me happy and then to provide evidence that its the little things in life that make it special. Moments caught in time that are meant to be treasured.

Am I happy? Well...I don't really know how to define happy but if its coming home to my two ladies, loving them and trying to be the best husband and father that I can be.....well, you can decide for yourself. It's a tough job, but the benefits are better than anything you can imagine.

Happiness is......a little girl's hair blowing in the breeze.

Smooch....

This is one of Reese's favorite faces now...We don't know where it came from but she sure looks cute when she does it. The pic below is just plain cuteness.

 

Reese's first steps!!!

The YouTube link to see Reese's first steps.....

***Mini update...my camera simply wouldn't cooperate so I posted the link on YouTube .

Reese decided that there was no time like the present to start walking a little on her own.....so after her bath she came down stairs and while Daddy made her bottle, Kim was able to convince her to take some steps. One step turned into two and then about three....What a moment for Kim and myself. We didn't know whether to laugh or cry or just hug her. How amazing is it that we were able to get some of her first real steps - all be it small steps - on video. Our little girl is growing up so fast.

Bath time....

Every other night (currently) is bath night and while bath night used to be a little bit of a pain....recently Kim and I have been able to gather our bearings on this process and we now have a much smoother event.

About a month or so back, we moved into the master bath for bath time...Prior to that we were still using the tub and the kitchen sink. I mean the kitchen was nice when Reese was little but then she began to learn about splashing and playing with toys in the kitchen and we couldn't keep things dry enough. So after the bathroom remodel.....pics are still due and will come, I promise....we made the move upstairs and it has been a dream ever since.

Reese has always been such a good sport about taking a bath and now that she has little foam letters and numbers to chew on....she likes it even better.

We tested the tub the other night with the jets on and she didn't really care for that. What was funny as all hell was all of these toys just zipping around the tub and Reese sort of not caring about that so much as wanting to leave the situation behind.

Once we get done with the scrubbing and rinsing, we put Reese on the counter and I'll brush her hair because she's like her daddy and loves for her head to be massaged and/or scratched. I use my brush instead of hers and she just loves it.

Some serious contemplating going on here.

We dry her, put on a diaper, throw on the jammies and then dry her hair and then she is ready for the bottle and bed. She is so content when Kim dries her hair because Kim lets her hold the lotion bottle. I mean some serious studying is taking place with that lotion bottle. She's got an intense side to her no doubt......

Tons of updated pics....

Are on our other blog......www.ayearinthelifeofus.blogspot.com

Go over and check out updates that have been long over due!!!!

Changes around the house....

First thing I want to do is get all political for just one second...this is our blog and I don't normally touch on these items but I think it fair to note that today...the voters in Massachusetts voted to replace the late liberal Senator Edward Kennedy with a Republican that was never even given a shot of success no more than two weeks ago. Why is this important? It abruptly changes the course of the Obama mandate of unchecked power. Health Care reform....Republicans now have enough votes for a filibuster if significant changes aren't made in this despicable law that was about to be shoved down our throats. Keep in mind...this happened in the heart of liberal democratic country and this speaks LOUDLY about the change that America asked for when they voted for Obama....this was not what was envisioned. The people spoke today....In one small state in our union...the people spoke. Thank you God that we live in America.

ALRIGHT ALRIGHT....enough of the politics on the baby blog.

Our house has been a little bit of a mess of late....One reason, Reese is into everything. I mean EVERYTHING. Another reason, well....in an attempt to make the house a little more user friendly, we opted to move the office out of the sunroom and into our dining room. You see, we don't have a fancy dining room set but we have a nice place to eat in the breakfast nook of our kitchen. It's not so much a nook as it is just a small place to eat and our table goes there. That being the case, this leaves our dining room empty and void of anything useful. It has been the diaper changing station, play room, Christmas tree room, catch all junk hole...well no more. Its Kim's home office now and looks pretty sporty if I say so myself.

The sunroom/office...well that's Reese's playroom now. She is growing so much these days. You can just see the changes coming...her mind is working a mile a minute and she is investigating new things, trying new things, testing her body in new ways - standing, leaning, pulling, pushing, crawling, and taking an occasional spill over her new chair. Last night she went shoe diving and ended up going end over end out of her new chair but she never whimpered or got hurt for that matter. She is simply too much fun right now.

Our nights have been a little busy or I would post some pictures of the changes but I'll hit that Wednesday. I should also have pics available of our new bean bag.....The largest bean bag ever....in the world....big as a small country... And the new play table that I'm hoping will be a hit for Reese as she gets older. I put together the drawers tonight and I'm hoping to put the table together next. And I will force Kim to update the pic-a-day blog because she is simply a slacker and needs prodding from time to time....Love you Hon. (It's so red to say Hon or Hun instead of Honey isn't it?)

Pics tomorrow and better updates from the wife...I promise.

Updates!! And our Nine month check ups....

Our little family is back together now....aahhhh this week is over. Thank you Lord.

Early in the week Kim had to travel one night and then the last half of the week I had to travel. Ugh. I only slept next to my wife one night this week and that is no Bueno. Our schedules just sort of got out of whack and these weeks are a bear now with a little one.

Speaking of the little one....an early Birthday present arrived for her today.

We bought her an anywhere chair for the big transformation that goes down this weekend. Our current office will become Reese's play room...and the office moves to the Dining room that isn't really a Dining room. Because now, well, its an office. Anyway...Reese got home this afternoon and she played around a little and then went straight to it. I think this is going to be a hit...

What a face right? This is one of those shots that you get in between yawning, yelling, and jabbering Reese. She almost looks drunk.

Anyway, her little chair is just the beginning because her play table is on the way as well. The change over from office to play room is really going to be a hit for us and the rooms will be used to their optimum now.

Ok...now to important stuff.
At six months Reese weighed 20lbs 10oz.
At nine months Reese now weighs 23lbs 13oz.....above 95 percentile.

At six months Reese was 27 1/4 inches.
At nine months Reese is now 29 1/2 inches....in percentile 95

And her head circumference has increased by nearly one inch to 47 3/4 inches....above 95 percentile.

Her measurements are fine because she is perfectly proportional in her gains from newborn to now. She has been given a green light on a wide variety of foods if she'll not gag when she eats them and now the fun begins for Mommy and Daddy at dinner time...yeah messy food!!!!

We'll get into pics of the office transformation tomorrow or Sunday and cover some general stuff from the last week as well. In the meantime, I'll close with my little one asserting her will on some of her toys. I can just here her saying to some little toy in that pile....SILENCE!!! I KEEL YOU!!!

Happy Birthday Papa!!

Happy Birthday Papa...from little Pooka Reese.
From here.....

To here....

When we told Reese that it was Papa's birthday today...she got excited.

 

And then we ate some spaghetti baby food....we're getting closer to solids!!

 

It's been that kind of day.

Week one down...

Friday.....Thank you Lord.

Last Sunday I posted about the lack of desire to get back at it. This Friday....I still don't have much desire but unfortunately the companies that I call on could care less about my level of commitment at present and simply demand full participation. That's a fancy way of saying I've been forced back into the grind of sales goals and putting out fires.

The sad part of work versus vacation has been the time with Reese. I cannot wait for this weekend so the we have two days with our little squirt uninterrupted. If I leave the office at 5:30p that means I get home around 6p and Reese traditionally goes to bed around 8:30p. 2.5 hours......really? I mean seriously that's all I get? That is so frustrating that I can't tell you. I had better change the subject before I say more than I should.

On a different note...we're lazy and haven't taken down the Christmas tree yet and plan to do that Saturday. I would like to get out of the house and do a little shopping of some kind and then pick up the place a little bit. Saturday is Papa's (my Dad) 55th birthday and Sunday marks the passing of my Papa three years ago. It's hard to think of Dad being 55 years old but it doesn't make sense that I'll be 36 this year either. On top of the bitter cold this weekend it should be a good one so Kim and I are heading to bed so we're ready for the wild woman when she wakes.

It's Cold Outside!!

So....Reese is starting to look like Randy from "The Christmas Story" but isn't she adorable?!

News around the homestead is that it MAY snow on Thursday but our local weather folk are so freaking non-committal about the whole thing that this could be a sign that snow is going to rain down from the heavens in buckets or it could just spit random snow flakes. I'm wondering if the latter is less likely than the former because Atlanta weather folk are traditionally quick to dismiss light weight snow events but this one has been comical because no one wants to start the riot at the local stores......hey...thanks for making a random guess unlike the other days when you seem to hit it dead on.....Yep....We really appreciate the candor and honesty weather turds.

I can write a paragraph or two about weather(men/women) and the sorry attempt at forecasting with all of the technology that they have access to but they seemingly continue to use a Farmer's Almanac.....anyway.

I'm hoping for snow that is knee deep and wind driven!! Bring it!!

Back to normal blues....

Does this happen to every family?

That lull after the holidays where you're sitting amongst your family and friends only to realize that the countdown is on to normal again. Ugh...I hate normal after the rush of the Christmas holidays. It literally flies by and savoring the time is all too often forgotten in lieu of getting everything done.

Kim and I have been off since Christmas Eve...she had to work that day and I helped get things sort of put together for our Chili dinner...11 days later and I'm bummed because work starts again in earnest Monday morning. All the time that I've spent with Reese, all the time that I've spent with Kim will now be reduced to how quickly I can escape the grasp of the office and what we can cram into the 4 hours or so that I get with my loved ones each day. Out of a 24 hour day....I get roughly 4 hours with them...No wonder I'm sad about the holidays ending.

Travel begins again, Kim's Grandfather isn't well at all so there will be tough days ahead on that front, and sadness of all sadness.....football is over. Early January really bites. ((Sorry Dad....his birthday is January 9th so that day doesn't suck so bad)) I know that so much of this pales in comparison to Kim's grandpa on a sadness meter but I'm trying not to drive all of us into a complete depression so I mix in less important things as well.

This vacation time has been good for my soul. It has been nice to re-connect with Kim on the days that Reese stayed with the sitter. It has been nice to play with Reese for hours and hours and then put her down for naps and adore her complete exhaustion with her world. It has been good to pray a little more and ask for guidance without having to stop and start that prayer in between phone calls at the office. It has been good to enjoy the house decorated with love and lights everywhere in the neighborhood. It has been good to focus less and less on myself....and more and more on my family. This season has been good......

I guess my struggle is to keep some part of this season alive for a while. Everything changes back to "standard" so quickly....no more holiday music, decorations, lights in the yards around the neighborhood, the XM Holiday radio station is back to Love songs ((dammit)), gatherings, parties, shopping lists, cards in the mail.....it all comes to such an abrupt end. But with time....all things seem to pass and along September of next year when the weather starts to cool just a bit Wal-Mart will put up Christmas displays in an attempt to wear out so many of us with the Christmas season. It doesn't work on me....I love it. September through December are my favorite months and I'll have to say that this fall has been wonderful and now I need to shake off the blues of Christmas and get ready for Reese's 1st birthday....it will be here before we know it.

Winter has sent in here in Atlanta with no signs of mid 40's for more than a week....I like that....Snow chances are on the rise....I like that....Super Bowl and playoff football.....I like that......Fire in the fireplace....I like that....Hot chocolate....mmmm I like that.....Kim and Reese.....I LOVE that. Maybe this winter thing isn't so bad after all. I just need to set my mind to the best things and embrace the minutes that I do have to enjoy them.

I'm thankful for the time that I've had off this holiday season....I'm thankful for my job but I'm sooo very thankful for this time off.

Memories of Christmas 2009 and the fall season in general....

 

Happy pic....

Updates on the week will come later....'til then, here is a happy pic.

We miss Mommy....

Ohhhhhhh do we miss Mommy.

Explanation...Kim has been gone since Saturday morning to take a quick trip to Florida to visit her ailing Grandfather and it was decided that the quick trip might be a bit of a test for Reese that we didn't really care to try. So....I stayed home. Whew....

Don't get me wrong, Reese has been an absolute joy all weekend but she is so very constant now....meaning, you can't even go to the bathroom without bringing her along to make sure she doesn't pull the TV down on top of her head. Let's begin with Saturday....

A weepy Kim takes off and gives me a kiss...I made her step out of the kitchen so Reese couldn't see her for MY sake when they left. Reese didn't realize anything had happened for about 10 minutes and then she crawls back into the Living room looking for Mumamamamaamama. No crying, no fits...just a little indecision about the whole thing but Daddy is here so that made it ok. I start by surveying the toyland before me and decide that boxes need opening and organization must begin in earnest. Reese proceeds to get right between my legs as I sit on the couch opening boxes that must be mandated by our government for the safety of our children and the torment of all parents. You can't even get into a Tickle Me Elmo without having wire cutters to cut these damn gray wires that are wrapped around poor Elmo's throat and then tied in some sadistic knot around this piece of plastic in the back. This is only after you cut open the sandwiched cardboard that is taped with NASA grade shuttle tape so as to prevent the in store removal of the aforementioned Elmo OR to prevent ever playing with the doll once one gets it home.

I think I opened about 10 major boxes with varying degrees of torment designed by someone who must be demon possessed. Publish this persons name...and I will do horrible things to them.

Reese plays for a while....time to eat. I plan the food, lay out the bottle, we're ready to go. Reese sits and is ready to eat.....and now we have flying Reesie pie. Not really but she flails her hands when anything gets in front of her thereby causing Apples and Prunes to go all over her face, PJs, and hair. Great. Clean up what I can, push through the meal while holding her hands down in a weak attempt at a straight jacket and then strip the baby to Shout out the stain. I change the diaper, put the little one in a new set of PJs (we're not going anywhere Saturday so we're dressing lazy) Shout the stain. Play for a bit, get to 10am....NAP TIME!!!!!!!

Oh thank you Jesus...Nap time. I love Nap time. She literally falls asleep in my arms with no fuss and I sit her in her little swing. IMMEDIATELY the phone rings. It's no one. Some damn telemarketer - that is breaking the law since we are on the no-call list - so I hang up. Then folks start calling to check on me......Hey...Reese is sleeping.....oh....uh....well, yeah...not anymore. Maybe thirty minutes if I was lucky. I didn't even have time to wash bottles or prep anything. No time to poop, no time to grab clothes, no time to do anything but breath for a minute and talk on the phone or dive on the phone like it was a live grenade anytime someone called.

I eat cookies for lunch. Yeah, I could have warmed up chili but I'm on the move. I finally start getting some stuff done around mid-day and Reese is in a little bit of a play mode so I can move about the house without my shadow. I wash bottles, clothes, fold clothes, open toys, put toys together, watch a minute of TV....then feed. Finally around 3pm Reese got ready for one heck of a nap. She slept for an hour and a half and I made it happen during that time. Ran the trash out to the can, used the can, made the bed, got all of the clothes down to wash, I mean I made it happen. Then Lance calls and asks if I would like to join them for dinner at Taco Mac....SURE!!!! I gets me out of the house. Yeah, yeah, It's a pain to do this by yourself but its worth it because you're OUT!

Reese wakes up, I alter the feeding schedule a little, we arrive at Taco Mac and she performs flawlessly. we had a good meal and I decide to venture off to BabiesRUs for some cabinet latches. I get there and decided not to bring in the buggy cover that we have....I'll just hold her.

I - one - forget that BabiesRUs is like an oven all the time. Two, that I'm heavily dressed (for BabiesRUs anyway). Three - that Reese is not the best at holding still, and four - that I have no idea what I REALLY need. After the amazing sauna / bicep workout at BRU, I get Reese back in the car....declare that I will NEVER do that again and move on home. (Buggies are your friend and the buggy cover is not that much of an issue.) And if anyone knows management at BRU...please tell them that pregnant women and dads frequent their stores and do NOT appreciate the heat set at 400 de-freaking-grees.

That folks, is just Saturday.......Sunday was a repeat except Daddy didn't take a bath. Reese wouldn't allow that. Daddy didn't use the bathroom in private....not even ONCE. My parents came by and aided with some extra eyes to make sure our little daredevil didn't try to jump off the couch. Reese took the shit of a lifetime...assplosion out onto the PJs, up the back and STUNK like dammit. She took a horrible nap late in the day and while she was excellent for my parents - she was awful once they left. She went into a DEFCON 4 whine, scream, spit, cry, mini tantrum. I think she was tired, hungry and just generally pissed but I swear I heard her coming into the kitchen saying mumamamamamamama. Yes Reesie...I know. I miss Mumamamama as well baby. Thank GOD she is coming home on Monday because she is sorely missed and appreciated.

I travel a decent amount and weekday trips are a sight different than the weekend. You feel trapped almost on the weekend. You need to get outside and move around...see other people. I do anyway. We usually go pretty hard but when its you....and only you....getting out makes less sense than you'd think it would. It's truly been a pleasure being Reese's only comfort or the past two days and she has really clung to me all weekend and I love that....but let me say to my wife....you are truly the glue that keeps this house together.

I'll never live up to the standard that you deserve and you still love me despite that. All my flaws...all my weaknesses....and you love me more and more every day. I'll never comprehend that but I guess I should just learn to appreciate it more and give back as much as I can to you.

Moms kick ass. And we miss our Kimmy/Mommy.

Reese's 1st Christmas.....

 

What an amazing Christmas....Everyone was so good to our new family and Reese just loves all of her new stuff. We had really sort of held out on her with toys to this point but she was really needing a fresh supply of goodies and Christmas came at just the right time.

This weekend is going to be interesting because its just gonna be Reese and Daddy. Kim is going down to Florida to see her Grandpa since he isn't in good health so I'll be holding down the fort with little bit. I've managed weekdays before but never an entire weekend on my own so this will be interesting. I have tons of cleaning up to do and Reese has a fresh pile of toys so we'll see what I can accomplish for the next several days.

So this is it....Christmas came and went today and the world moves on again starting at 6am....super saver discounts start at your local Wal-mart. All of that preparation since Thanksgiving...shopping for the perfect gift, asking for ideas, prepping the house for the holidays, sending out the cards, taking the pictures, going to see Santa, cooking, cleaning.....the month just flew by and now Christmas Day has come...and is now gone. Christmas night has always been a sad one for me because I love this time of year and tonight is essentially the end. Oh, I get over it and move on but the radio stations kill the Christmas music immediately and decorations start coming down as well. It just happens too quick. Too easily forgotten and on to the next thing....

It's easy to see why Kim and I will remember this Christmas forever since it was Reese's first. The pictures above will hold these days in lasting memories and we'll always carry this Christmas with us.

Mommy and Daddy love you Reese....This is just the beginning of many, many more to come. We love you more than you'll ever know and hope that every Christmas is just as special to you as it is to us.

Merry Christmas....

Little Reese has already gone to bed tonight....She's dead tired and just beat from a day full of activities prepping for the family we had over tonight for Christmas Eve chili.

We know that in the years to come Reese will not go to bed so easily on Christmas Eve and watching her tonight just made my heart swell with pride in anticipation of those years to come. Kim and I have truly been blessed by this little girl and do not deserve God's blessings.....but in this case, we'll take it...No questions asked.

Merry Christmas everyone....Merry Christmas.