chris.reese.girls1.2.3.4

Paige has a favorite blanket: 'Purple B' . When I realized early on that she liked this blanket so much, I actually went out and bought another one to use as a backup. Paige came to notice the slight coloration difference and realized there were actually two different blankets. She named the original 'Purple B' and the other 'Green B'. Initially she wanted both blankets all the time. But soon 'Purple B' was attached to Paige's hip and 'Green B' was second-rate. 'Purple B' was with her everywhere - she'd even talk to it (is that weird??). I'd have to convince her each time we walked out the door that 'Purple B' would be just fine at home by himself. But as of this past Friday, the days of 'Purple B' are over. Paige wanted to make her blanket warm and decided to put it on the glass of our fireplace while the fire was on. As you can guess, 'Purple B' melted nicely onto the glass. After extinguishing our ne...

Last Friday I had a date with the dry-pack cannery. I like going and was anxious to add to our food storage, but I wasn't prepared for the 4 1/2 hour commitment it turned into. Chris was saved by a bottle I had pumped a few weeks ago that he could give to Brynn. This is what I came home to...Paige absolutely loved feeding Brynn. She even asked if she could try some of it, but then decided against that (probably a good idea). Every time Paige holds Brynn she asks me to take her picture. The other day she says, "Mom, take my picture so dad will see me on the blog!" Maybe she's feeling a little overshadowed in her blog-appearances... And here's just a cute one of little Brynn from last Sunday. The poor girl was mistaken for a boy more than once (people just seeing the plaid and not the cute lace at the bottom of her dress). She has also come down with a case of baby acne. Life is hard when you're five weeks old. Oh well, at least she doesn't mind.

Yeah. It's finished. This one took me a while to get finished and out. She's adorable. Her cheeks are getting bigger...I can't believe she's five weeks old today.

So...I have survived an entire week without parental help (cheers!). It's had its ups and downs, but mostly we are getting better about our schedule and routine, which makes everything else roll better. As of today, Chris is taking paternity leave through the rest of the month. Yes, that sounds nice and wonderful, but he's cramming for the CPA exams, which means he's here, but not really here. I didn't realize how challenging it would be to leave him alone, but we did pretty well today; always keeping him on the floor we weren't on at the time. Paige kept asking, "When can we go downstairs/upstairs to see dad?" I have pushed our nightime routine ahead an hour (very tricky) and it is working like a charm. Paige needs all the sleep she can get and without a nap, falling asleep before 8pm has been necessary and I love it!! I really feel like I have an evening to get things done. The best part is that she falls asleep so fast with little fuss. She...

On Sunday we enjoyed the wonderful occasion of blessing Miss Brynn. We had a large gathering of our family and close friends and we feel so blessed for all the love and support. It was a bit of an ordeal deciding on the dress Brynn should wear. She was too small for Paige's dress (P was two months old when she was blessed), and I didn't really like the one I bought (plus I'm really cheap). She was lucky enough to use the dress both of her Apken Aunts were blessed in. The dress was made by Chris' grandmother who passed away two months ago and the sentimental nature of the dress alone was sweet and precious. Thanks to Chris' aunt and uncle for letting everyone crash for lunch and visiting afterwards...we had such a relaxing and enjoyable afternoon. They even let us bring our laundry since our washing machine is still broken (it broke a few days after Brynn was born and has been a serious inconvenience...dang Sears!!). Both Paige and Brynn were showered with gifts and...

I have survived my final party of the month! This was an hour of fun and all the girls were really well-behaved. We enjoyed lunch with shape-sandwiches, cheese cubes, jell-o jigglers, craisins, carrots, and cupcakes. We played "I Spy A Shape" and "Candy Rainbow" games. After the party was over all the little girls played very well upstairs in Paige's room while the mom's were able to chit-chat. I feel like I have been in hiding since having Brynn, so it was nice to visit with my friends! Paige was such a great birthday girl...she loved having her friends around and was happy and cheerful (which has been a bit hard to come by recently). We were all so exhausted by the late afternoon that we had a "girl nap" for about 2 hours. It's great when me and both the girls can sleep at the SAME time! Girl Fun! Lena, Katy, Addy, Paige, Cameron, and Madelyn. I can't believe how cooperative they were in this group shot! Getting ready for all her friend...