chris.reese.girls1.2.3.4

Cramming it all in... PAIGE'S 3RD BIRTHDAY! I can't believe little Paige is already 3. Where does the time go?! I tried to make the day extra special and all about HER. We started with Minnie Mouse pancakes, fruit snacks, and a few presents for breakfast. Dad went to work late so he could enjoy with us. Later, she and I watched her new Mary Poppins movie with popcorn on the couch for lunch...healthy, right?! She loves pretending we are at the "movie ee-ater". She visited a friend's house for a little while for a different birthday party. Then we opened more presents, went out to dinner, blew out candles, and ate cake. She is a wonderful girl who we adore and makes us laugh every day!! Her Minnie Mouse party is in a few days and she is so excited for a few girlfriends to come over and play! Note: For my domestically-advanced, cake-decorating friends, please do not enlarge the above photo. It's a disaster and could very well make a debut on the cake wreck blog (...

Church Halloween Party -- More time in the Halloween costume, yeah!! Thanks mom, for making the skirt! Paige loved getting all dolled up and was excited when I let her go through my makeup and pick some things to put on her face...mascara was her favorite, and if I had her eyelashes I would feel the same way! Cousin's Birthday Party -- Miss Addy turned four today and Paige enjoyed getting dolled up in her dress-up clothes for the "Fancy Nancy" party. Paige calls it "Fancy Dancy", but same thing. If you haven't seen these books, they are a must for any little girl. Needless to say they are on someone's Christmas list...oh, girls are so fun!! Paige and the birthday girl!!!

The last 11 days have been so full of joy and happiness!! We are thrilled to have TWO wonderful and beautiful daughters. Each of them are adjusting in their own way: Paige --> is a doting big sister...most of the time. She really loves Brynn and wants to help as much as possible. She always wants to kiss and snuggle next to her. When Brynn cries Paige says the same things to Brynn that I say to Paige...."Calm Down"...."It's okay, honey", etc. etc. Although yesterday she asked if we could take Brynn back for a different baby because, "our baby cries." Seems like a logical idea, huh?! But Paige has certainly been more emotional since Brynn's birth. On the surface it appears to have nothing to do with Brynn, but I know it's the underlying factor. Little things turn into giant tear-jerking tragedies in about 2 seconds flat. She is the more difficult of the two at the moment. It's probably good prep for the teenage years... Brynn --> is ...

Brynn Apken 7 lbs, 11.5 oz 19.5 inches Born at 8:49 AM - 10.14.08 We are all doing well! Will post more pics and updates soon!

For those not keeping up on my prego blog, yes, I am still pregnant and within the next 5 hours I will be post-due date. This will be the last pregnancy photo you will see here. Let's hope I have BABY pictures to show soon!! We hope this little girl can come on her own, but I'm not opposed to some type of intervention should my doctor provide that option at my appointment tomorrow. We shall see...thinking happy thoughts...

And no, I'm not referring to my pregnancy... But thanks to the extra time this week I hadn't planned on, I have completed my major photo organization project that has been on my long-term to-do list for about a year: I have digitally cataloged all 7500+ of my pictures!!! Each one has been tagged and organized for people/events/locations/dates/etc. It's a work of art if I say so myself! And while going through all my photos, I found this adorable little gem. Paige really did sit like this as a newborn/infant until about 6 months...she even slept like this. This was her equivalent to the fetal position and probably one of the reasons she was NEVER a cuddler . I wonder if Baby #2 is going to come out being an acrobat, too! Let's hope we find out soon...

We headed to "The Farm" in Snohomish on Saturday for a family party with Chris' work. We enjoyed great catered food, a hay ride, catching a fish (see video), playing in the corn box, petting animals and getting our pumpkins. It was fun to have Grandma and Grandpa Apken with us for the weekend. The weather was not particularly lovely, but it was not raining when it was most important. Good thing for rain boots and waterproof jackets...gotta love the fall season in the Northwest!

Today Paige locked herself out of her bathroom and nearly panicked. I was sitting at the desk in the loft and told her I would get it open in a minute (I just need a coin to unlock it). Anyway, she decided she was going to work on it herself. She called "Tootles" and used a Mouse-ke-tool (a la Mickey Mouse Clubhouse ) and got a spare key from downstairs. She then proceeded to open the door and was so proud of herself!! She then decided this was a fun thing to do. After a few times of locking/unlocking the door, she couldn't get it open again. Then I hear her say that she needs to say a prayer. So, she says a real prayer asking for help to open the door...and she did get it open again. I sat there trying not to let her know I was watching and had one of those, "Okay, we're doing a decent job of teaching her what's important" moments. I'm glad she knows she can receive divine help for anything...even when her Mouse-ke-tools fail.