Muddn', Runn', and sleepn'

I'll tell the story sort of backwards....This is what Reese looked like after a full day on the go. Note that Puppa is still in her arms which is highly unusual. Her legs are through the crib...her preferred method of sleeping now, and the shirt is pulled up so as to expose the belly. She was asleep in about 2 minutes.

That was after a day of swimming, preceded by some chillin' with Uncle Lance and Aunt Celeste....I'm so tempted to tell Reese that it's the other way. (Aunt Lance and Uncle Celeste...just to have something unusual for Reese in her family) AAAAAANNNNDDD preceded by that with a ride home from the Black Foot Mud Run seeing Daddaaaa, Aunt Lance, and Uncle Celeste get muddy running around like a bunch of kids with no sense.

Reese was excellent at the mud run and Kimmy took good pics since she had to sit out this time with Pooka. I sort of mis-understood that Kimmy was wanting to actually run the race so I could have had Dad come up and baby-sit the little one but she would have probably freaked out seeing Kim and not being able to get to her. Probably for the best....next time Kimmy, I'll sit out. This one sucked!

Black Foot was a full blown 5K unlike the warrior dash and I think the obstacles were better. I posted pics on Facebook but let's take a closer look here on the blog why don't we....

Here we have some stretching...Note that the only one really getting a good stretch is Celeste. Lance and I are just play acting....

Pooka Reese is giving Mommy a sunshine smile because the rest of us are running our rear ends off.

Daddy finally emerges from the brush only to stumble, bumble and RUMBLE to the first obstacle...

Meanwhile Lance tries the ropes and it didn't turn out too well.

Dadaaaaa struggles while Celeste looks on....Don't let her fool you. She walked around this one.

Dadaaaa fairs no better than Lance on the ropes. Look at those guns would ya!!

Celeste pulls ahead in a boggy marsh and meanwhile Adam has a look on his face that would appear to say....I'm about to mess myself.

Lance is running like a Kenyan on the course but appears a little spent after dropping off the wall. I would imagine some choice words from him right about now.

Uncle Celeste and Dadaaaa crawl in the mud. We're both pretty disgusted right now.

Hey guys....this is where Adam was saying "Please God don't let me fall off this rope wall!"

Check out the form....a true sprinter.

What the hell am I doing with my hands? Is this like the sissy trot or something?

Finally the race is over and we're all feeling pretty bold. So we flex.

So there you have it....the zoom never lies. And truth be told, I probably passed out like Reese Saturday night too.

Conversations with Reese....

Everyday when I get home Reese will always yell, "DA DAAAAA!". The intensity cannot be replicated in the written word and the impact cannot be measured. There is something special about that title....and to hear your daughter yell it, bellow, or demand your attention is simply priceless. Her intensity with everything now is so awe inspiring. She isn't even 15 months and she is picking out pictures in a book and in many cases identifying it simply on a request and even saying it. Ball, Duck, Quack, Book, Puppy, choo choo, shoe, sun are all things she is saying and identifying. But what flips me out is to ask her to point to a drum and she will. She knows where the Crescent Moon is on her book and points to it. She knows hat a boat, flower, and apple are and will point to them on demand in a jumbled up picture of these items.

Her ability to learn and comprehend what she is told baffles Kim and I. If you tell her to take something to the trash and throw it away...she will. Ask her to wipe her mouth, she will. Tell her its time to go to bed...she crawls up the steps and walks into her room ready to go down. We're blessed with this little angel and watching her grow and learn is such a privilege.

Just reading to her and having her in my lap, trusting me explicitly to take care of her....knowing that I'll keep her safe in the pool, knowing that I'll put her first before my own needs...She looks at me with those amazing blue eyes that must be from the Bug Man because I do NOT have Blue eyes - I digress - I ask her if Daddy can have a kiss? And she is happy to oblige. I get my kiss and ask for a DA DAAA and she, again, is happy to oblige....DA DAAAAAA she says. Opening her mouth so wide that her molars look like pieces of cotton jammed into her mouth.....I love my baby girl.

We tuck her in and watch her on the video monitor. I'll have to admit...we missed the boat for a long time on this parent thing. What a great job being a Dad is.

Father's Day 2010

Chilling by the pool in the morning....

The two best gifts in the world....my girls.

Pool time...

Makes a little girl thirsty!

Pre-weekend update...

Updating the blog has become difficult lately....

I mean not like the kind of difficult that would prevent us from doing it but the kind of difficult that would cause you to fall asleep around 8:30p because Reese just went down and you're exhausted too.....or because you've been traveling most of the week...or because you actually have a moment of silence because your precious wife is asleep on the couch and your daughter is as well....It's just five minutes that we have to carve out for our own sakes so we can remember these times in our lives but its sort of like running on the treadmill. I know I need to do it....but I'd rather slobber in my easy chair as I drift off to sleepy town.

I guess it's fair to say that Reese has changed gears on us lately. She is soooo freaking attentive to our words and actions now. She is really attempting to say alot. Her words include Mama, Dada, Papa, One, two, tweet - as in "what a bird says", ready, go, thank you, bite, more, outside, bye, puppa (her puppy), night night, randomly she seems to say love you, she tries to sing the itsy bitsy spider....she even does her hands, NO NO!....I'm sure there are more and I'm missing them but I feel like this is pretty good considering the kid is only 14 months old.

She tries to start her ABCs but she says, A, E, O, I.....sort of working the vowels more than the consonants. But she repeats A, B, D....no Cs yet....if you do it slowly. Amazing!

She loves her lego blocks, loves the Pool, LOVES LOVES LOVES the Zac Brown /Jimmy Buffet Crossroads concert, loves going for walks, loves being on the go, she loves being outside, loves wondering around to look at new things....she just loves life.

Foods are opening up as well. She is eating a waffle in the morning, loves fries now, ate a chicken nugget the other day, Cheezits, crackers, any fruit baby food, 100 calorie chip ahoy crackers, animal crackers, teddy grahams....the list goes on. It's so nice to see her showing interest in eating "people" food and its exciting to watch this transformation. We just love her so much....she is such a fun little girl.

We're hoping for a great weekend so grab some sun and have a great Saturday and Sunday.

Cornhole, cookout, swimming, and a tired baby girl....

This is the picture of a tired little girl.

Its sort of been the norm lately. We have pushed Reese so hard with one thing and then another and she puts up with a relatively hectic schedule with ease....but she can't hide the tired in this shot.

After last weeks four days of fun, this weekend was a two day blink of an eye. We went to Nora's for a cookout / luau and broke out the cornhole boards for their inaugural competition. I still have a little touching up here and there on one of the boards but all in all they performed amazingly. Now...I did not perform well  but Nicole's boyfriend Michael is like the Tiger Woods of cornhole...nothing derogatory meant by that...and WHUPPED our tails throwing the bags. Very impressive Michael. You should become professional.

Donna and Shirley took some throws at the boards and did pretty well...You don't just walk up and start owning someones cornhole....it takes time and patience. (so many different ways for that to go....I'll leave it up to you guys to form your own outcomes.)

Reese pretty well had an acre to run around on and needed to be right in the middle of the cornhole "court" most of the time. She's a social butterfly and wanted to get the scoop on Daddy's new boards.

Nicole was awesome with Reese for a little while. Not that Nicole started doing anything wrong....Reese just got tired of sitting in one place....check out the red cheeks. She takes after her Daddy, always hot.

After chow, Nora decided we should play some games which means everyone participates no matter how embarrassing the game may be. This one had a spoon on a string and you had to snake the spoon through your clothes and hand it to the next person. I was at the end of the line and ended up with a sweaty spoon. (not really but it was hot outside so I'm just guessing.)

We spent today at home chilling and waiting for the sun to show up. We went to the pool for about an hour and when we got ready to leave....the sun came out. But sun or no sun, Reese did great. She loved getting thrown around a little and just had a great time. I think we are going to use the pool alot this year which is A-ok with me. Especially since it just wears Reese out...she fell asleep in about two minutes tonight.

Mom and Dad came down for a bit so we hung around and Dad tried out some cornholing action. So far they seem to be a hit and I want to make another set just for shiggles. And that, is sort of it. Back to the grind on Monday...oh joy. Hope everyone has a great week.