5 Months of Lil: Boot Scootin' Boogie

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Our Lil is growing up so fast...too fast! And she's quite the little "scooter." One of the big new milestones this month is that she has started army crawling and she's everywhere!!! She's so cute when she scoots across the floor! She puts her little bottom in the air and pushes with her feet - she looks like a little inch worm! She's getting really fast, especially when you put something she really wants in front of her, like paper of something that makes noise. She also can sit up by herself in the tripod position. And when she's on the floor she props herself up on her side and can almost sit up - the girl has some major abs! 

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I've been calling her my little Nosey Nelly because she's so curious about everything! Nursing her has become very difficult. We have to go lay down where it's quiet and nothing is going on because if not, she can't eat for being so nosey about what everyone else is doing, especially Reid. She watches everything he does and crawls over to play with him. She's been very interested in his Thomas the Train sets lately. Sometimes he'll share with her and give her a train, "here you go sissy, you play with this one," and sometimes he's not so nice, "no no sissy! these are MY trains," or "mommy sissy broke my choo choo train track!" 

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She has the best little personality...she has such a sweet, easy-going temperament until she's really hungry or really sleepy and then she's got quite the temper (way worse than Reid, her daddy says)! She's still my little chunky monkey, weighing 15 pounds 8 ounces. She's still on the 75 percentile for her height and her weight. The only bad thing about this month (and it's really not a bad thing because I know I'm going to miss it one day) is that I think she's teething so she hasn't been sleeping very well. She wants to use me as a pacifier and nurse all night long! She's starting to remind me of her brother! He still doesn't sleep all night long, unless he's right in the middle of Jeb and I.

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LilliAnn has also started reaching for people a lot more this month. It just melts my heart when she holds her arms up and looks at me with those big blue eyes! Her eyes are the exact color of her daddy's and I really hope they stay that color. I thought that her hair might be a little darker than Reid's, but so far all of her new hair is really blond.

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Gorgeous baby girl

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We're loving every minute of having a little girl! I feel so blessed to have one of each and I really feel like our two kids have started to bond in the last few weeks. Reid's really taken an interest in his little sister lately and wants her to be right beside him all the time. I think he's going to such a good big brother for her and I'm excited for all the adventures to come!

Reid's First (and maybe last) Day of "School"

Last Tuesday was Reid's first day of Mother's Day Out, or "school" as he calls it, at Immanuel Baptist Church. We decided that since I work two days a week, we could put Reid in Mother's Day Out on the days I work so that my mom would only have LilliAnn and would be able to get some things done that she needed to do. Unfortunately, I work on Tuesdays and Fridays and Mother's Day Out is only Monday through Thursday. I'm paying for three days a week and planned on only sending Reid two days, but since there's no MDO on Fridays, I'm going to have to send him on a day when I'm not working...which I really don't like. 

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I've justified putting Reid in Mother's Day Out by saying all the things that parents say to justify putting their children in childcare..."it'll be good for him," "he needs the socialization," "he'll learn so much," "he'll learn to share, form a line, follow the rules." Also, I thought this was just what you were supposed to do. And yes, I know that sometimes childcare is necessary and that all of these above justifications are true...it probably will be good for him, etc... but, Reid doesn't have to go to MDO right now AND Reid doesn't want to go to Mother's Day Out. We've been talking to him all summer about how he's going to start "school" like Jett and Grayson and how fun it's going to be, telling him he'll get to play with kids, "draw R.D.," play basketball, and play outside. 

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On the first day he was really excited to go, but I was sooooo nervous because he's never really stayed with anyone all day except for my mom and occasionally my granny or Jeb's mom. I got up really early to pack his lunch just perfectly, cook breakfast, and lay out his clothes. My mom came over to watch LilliAnn and I finished getting ready for work.  Then woke Reid up and got him all ready for his first day of school.  We took a few pictures and then were off to Mother's Day Out. We talked about all the fun things he was going to do at school on the way and sang a few of his favorite songs like "I've been working on the railroad" and "Wheels on the Bus." As we walked into the church, I tried to act happy and excited for him, but really I thought I was going to throw up all over the place. We'd already met his teacher a few days prior and he walked into his classroom like such a big boy and started playing with the kids. All was going great so I snuck out. As I was paying his dues at the front desk I heard it..."I want my mommy!" Yep, that was my child crying uncontrollably. I couldn't just leave so I decided to go back into the classroom and hold him for just a little bit longer. I stayed 15 more minutes and was already really late for work so I decided to just leave him with the teacher and walk out. He clung to me like a spider monkey and said, "no mommy, no mommy!" I felt terribly guilty. I was making my son go to Mother's Day Out when he really didn't have to go at all. I texted the director on my way to work and she said that he only cried for about 10 minutes and that he was playing now. Well, at least that made me feel a little bit better. My mom went and checked on him before lunch and he was playing outside on the playground with some other little boys and seemed to be having a great time. When she went to pick him up he was crying again and the teacher was holding him. Reid called me at work when he got out of school and told me that he liked school and that he "played outside" and "painted his hands." Yay, I thought, this might actually work. When I got home from work that day, I was never so glad to see that precious blond-haired little boy!

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Thursday I decided to try the MDO thing again. Although I didn't have to work that day, I had a few errands I needed to run so I thought he might enjoy playing for a while. "It's only 9-2," I kept telling myself, "only 5 hours." Jeb rode with me to drop him off and stayed in the car with LilliAnn. He told us all the way to the church that he didn't want to go to school. Great, I thought - here we go again. I prayed all the way there that it would be an easy drop off and he would run right in and start playing. Not so much...he, once again, clung to me like a spider monkey and said, "peeeaaassse mommy don't go," "I don't wanna go to school," and "I wanna go bye bye mommy." After trying to talk him into "liking" staying, I left him with the teacher and walked out, listening to him scream for me as I walked out the door. As I walked to the car I knew Jeb would already know how terrible it went by the "I'm gonna throw up" look on my face. He is the only boy in his class with about seven little girls. No wonder it's such as bad drop off. It's like, "here Reid, stay with the little girls and play baby dolls with them." It would be much easier to leave him if he saw a group of little boys playing trucks and having fun. When I leave him, all the things the girls are doing just doesn't look that fun to a rowdy little boy. I turned around in the parking lot and walked back in to talk to the director about this. She said the only other little boy in that class only comes on Wednesdays and that we can try him in the other 2 year old class next week if I wanted to. So...mom went and checked on him again that morning and he was playing with some little boys in the general play area during play time and was having fun. But when I picked him up, he was in his classroom with all girls, sitting in the corner by himself with the sit & spin. He had two accidents in his pants, which hasn't happened in a really long time. As we were leaving I asked him if he wanted to go back to school next week and he said, "no mommy - I don't want to go to school." 

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Yes, I know that you have to give it some time and that sometimes it takes a while for them to get used to the new environment, new people, and new routine...but, I also know how my heart feels and that I need to go with my gut and my gut is telling me that Reid does not need to got to "school" when he's two, especially when he doesn't have to and doesn't want to. He's right on track, if not a little advanced, developmentally, he is very social, has a sibling, and plays with other children often, and is pretty good a sharing and behaving. I'm not sending him just so I can have a break and get things done on the day I'm not working and my mom does't mind keeping him when I work. He's two years old and isn't going to be a baby much longer. He has the rest of his life to go to "school" and be away from me. However, I am going to try again this week one more time in the other class that has more boys. If he likes it and wants to go then I may take him one or two days a week and see how it goes, if he doesn't like it, we're going to hold off on this whole "school" thing.

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Reid's lunchbox

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I over-do everything! A choo choo train sandwich for lunch with goldfish, fresh strawberries, raisins, and organic apple juice

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He's digging the backpack!

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Already not wanting to take a picture with his mama!

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*Note: Thankfully, God has blessed me with an amazing, fantastic, terrific, kind, loving, generous (there are really not enough words to describe how great she is) mother that helps me so much with my children. This is the main reason that Reid doesn't have to go to "school." She keeps my children when I work and also at times when I need to run errands or have something I really need to do. I honestly can say that she is my best friend and my rock and I don't know what I would do without her. Thank you, Lord, for my mother. There's no one I'd rather have keep my children than their Nana Karen.

Our First Family Vacation

Last week we went on our first family vacation. I'm calling this our first family vacation because we're pretty sure that we're finished having children and this is our first vacation by ourselves as a family of four. We decided to go to Branson because...A. it isn't that far to drive (which is very important with 2 children 2 and under) and B. it has a lot of things for kids to enjoy. I will say, however, getting packed for the trip and ready to leave almost gave me a nervous breakdown! We planned on leaving at 5 a.m. so the kids would sleep most of the way because our kids usually sleep until about 9:30 a.m. We ended up leaving around noon after Reid had two temper tantrums, I had two horrible migraines, stayed up all night packing - and still was trying to get myself packed last minute. But, we got the Escalade loaded up...and I mean loaded up, you would've thought we were moving...and headed to the great state of Missouri! 

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Branson has a new outdoor shopping area downtown called Branson Landing. This was our first stop when we got in town on Thursday afternoon and when I saw this little shop that did "Old Time Photos," of course, I couldn't resist! Although I had to sweet talk Jeb into it! 

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Look how sweet! Now wasn't it worth it?

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Reid was totally into this guitar! Now he wants to be a cowboy like this for Halloween!

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Before arriving in Branson we stopped at Olive Garden in Joplin to eat lunch. Reid was so excited and kept saying, "we're goin' on a trip mommy! we're goin' on a trip!"

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Little sis was pretty excited too!

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Branson Landing - first time to try out our new Joovy stroller. We were a little worried because my infant car seat is an Orbit and isn't one of the compatible infant carriers listed in the stroller's instruction manual. Lil is still too small to sit in the front part of the stroller, but thankfully our car seat worked perfectly! Jeb liked the stroller so much he wanted to push it most of the time! It was great for Reid because he's never been a stroller type of kid and it was easy for him to get in and out of as much as he wanted. Jeb said, "he's like a little chipmunk...he runs and plays and then comes back and gets in his little hole."

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They do a water and fire show to music every hour at Branson Landing that's pretty awesome. We ate dinner out outside at the Mexican restaurant and watched the show. 

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Playing on the playground at Branson Landing

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First stop on Friday morning...Branson Scenic Railway!!! Reid is so into trains right now so this was by far his favorite thing we did on the trip. He loves watching Thomas the Train and has two train sets, so he just couldn't wait to ride a real "choo choo train." As we were pulling up to the train station Jeb and I were talking and Jeb asked me, "I wonder where the train goes?" Before I could answer Reid chimed in from his car seat, "On the tracks daddy!" Like duh, dad...the train goes on the tracks. It was the cutest moment ever!

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Waiting in line to get on the train and holding his train whistle that we bought in the gift shop

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This is one of my most favorite pictures EVER! He was taking everything so seriously and he was so excited he could hardly stand it! The anticipation on his face in this picture says it all. He's holding his ticket for the conductor to come by and pick up.  On his Wee Sing Train movie there's a song that goes, "better get your ticket, oh yeah" and Reid kept holding up his ticket and singing this song.

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It was Jeb and Sissy Baby's first train ride too!

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"Wook mommy!"

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When we went over the bridge he looked down and said, "whoa...that's high!"

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The train ride was pretty long - over an hour - and the kids did great! Reid looked out the windows, got some snacks in the concession car, and even danced a little.

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the "train driver"

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Our little family...Reid has a death grip on his "I Like Trains" book we bought him in the gift shop.

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He wanted to sit down and read his train book before we could leave the train station.

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Talk about busy tourists...as soon as we left the train station we rushed down the road to "Ride the Ducks" so we could catch the next one leaving at 2:00. We had to stay on schedule because we had 4:30 tickets for the Dixie Stampede show!

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One of the highlights of the trip...riding the ducks! Reid loved using his duck quacker! After we drove into the water, full speed ahead, Reid look at me and said "Inna do dat again!!!" 

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Jeb's first time to "Ride the Ducks"

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When the driver asked if anyone wanted to come drive Reid got up and walked to the front all by himself. He's a little upset in these photos because the driver was trying to take a picture of him and he started walking back to us, the driver said "no, wait a minute" and it scared Reid. Daddy had to come back up with him for the picture.

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Captain Reid J. Rollins

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Friday night we went to Dixie Stampede which was a blast!! Reid's eyes were glued to the show the entire time. The show consisted of a musical and horse tricks with a North vs. South "war theme" - it was great! Not to mention the delicious food we were served during the show...smoked chicken, pork loin, vegetable soup, roasted potatoes, corn on the cob, cheddar biscuits, and apple turnovers! Yummy! My kind of southern food :) I'm allergic to horses and we sat on the second row, but luckily I found some Benadryl in the gift shop. As we were leaving, one of the women that rode one of the horses during the show said to me, "You have beautiful children. I was watching them during the show." This made me really proud and yes, I do have beautiful children. 

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We got up early Saturday morning, went and ate breakfast at the little store at our resort, then headed a few miles down the road to get to Silver Dollar City as soon as it opened. We thought it wouldn't be as crowded since it was back to school week for most schools and the summer was winding down...boy were we wrong! It was the Gospel and Blues Picnic at Silver Dollar City that weekend...one of the busiest days of the year! Luckily, it was mostly older people so the lines for the rides weren't long at all. 

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Sissy Baby waiting on the shuttle from the parking lot.

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Reid and Mommy - Ready for a fun day at Silver Dollar City

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The good thing about Silver Dollar City is that it's got lots of trees so there's plenty of shade! 

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What's the first thing we did? Ride the Silver Dollar City Steam Engine of course!!!

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LilliAnn's very first ride - you sit in a little boat and ride through a little river, shooting at stuff.

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Showing off his 36" bracelet - He is exactly 36", meaning he could ride all of the "kiddie" rides without an adult.

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Besides the choo choo train, this is what Reid has talked about the most. He says that he rode Dumbo (which, by the way, is one of his favorite movies currently). I got my video camera out to video this and I started cracking up laughing to myself. I was like, "ha ha, Jeb is riding a flying elephant and he likes it." I don't know why I thought that was so funny!

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Sissy wasn't much into the rides :)

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ok, so Reid wanted to ride these "boats." I wasn't so sure because they went around very, very fast and I didn't see many kids his age riding them. He kept insisting and he met the height requirement as long as he was with an adult, and guess what? Jeb made me ride with him. I'd been a little anxious on this trip and didn't know if I could handle going around and around. But...Jeb made me feel bad by saying that Reid would look back at pictures and wonder why mommy never did anything fun with him. So...I want on the boats. Reid almost started crying at first and was saying, "I don't like these boats mommy," but after a few times around and some encouraging words from me, he finally started having fun.

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He loved this "bug ride" because another one of his favorite movies is "A Bug's Life."

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Loves to play in the water!

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Cheese!

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Reid has started wanting to take pictures of sissy, probably because he sees me doing it so much. This is a picture that Reid took of LilliAnn.

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Beautiful baby girl

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We pay $60 a piece for Silver Dollar City tickets and he likes to play in the mulch!

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Yummmmmm...we HAD to get some strawberries and icecream. Strawberries are our favorite!

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We stayed in this water area for a long time because Reid was having a blast. You can tell how much he loved it by the looks on his face.

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Pure joy!

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Balls...another little boy favorite!

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We're lovin' this stroller!

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He was making silly faces for me.

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Dad of the Year! When we first walked in Jeb said, "I never thought I'd be pushing a stroller around Silver Dollar City looking at all the different types of cool strollers other people have."

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Little Family Photo

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Resting at the condo

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I was in the bedroom and I heard Reid talking to LilliAnn. I walked in the living room and Reid had the phone to her ear saying, "tell Nana sissy, tell her, we're on a trip!" My mom really wasn't on the phone, but Reid kept acting like he was talking to his Nana and Papa.

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Gettin' a little sun

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Our resort had the best swimming pools for kids!

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Silly boy!

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I love this pic!

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Another favorite!

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My little model

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Jeb didn't like how this bathing suit didn't have a top. I told him that it's a diaper swim cover from Mini Boden and that it doesn't come with a top! It's from a European company :)

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yep...Jeb took this pic.

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I feel like the kids really bonded on this trip. Reid started showing a lot more interest in LilliAnn. She just loves to watch him and touch his face. Now he always makes sure that she's with us and says things like, "you get sissy mommy?" and "is sissy coming?" and "I wanna hold her!" and "I wuv her mommy."

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On our last day I wanted to stop at this little water slide that's on the main strip in Branson. We used to come here when I was a kid and I absolutely LOVED it! It's just one long water slide, but I remember it being so much fun. I wanted to go down it with Reid, but he wanted his daddy to go.

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Ready for take off!

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Here they come!

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Daddy giving me the ole' thumbs up

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The water was pretty cold and it was cloudy outside so Reid was ready to warm up!

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Jeb's been practicing "thumbs up" with him.

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"Mommy it's coldy!"

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Our very last thing we did was stop at one of the kiddie ride places on the strip to let Reid ride this choo choo train that he kept seeing. He cried when I tried to make him get off, so he ended up riding it several times. 

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Overall, I would say our "First Family Vacation" was a huge success! The kids were great, Jeb and I really enjoyed ourselves, and it was nice for just the four of us to get away for a few days. The Ruckus gives Branson two thumbs up and we're already planning on going back again soon!