chris.reese.girls1.2.3.4

Two days ago I turned 32. Paige asked to be the photographer and I let her. She loves wielding the big fancy camera now. And while I was tempted to fix the bags under my eyes, smooth out my smile lines, and whiten my teeth, I held back. Good thing she wasn't zoomed in enough for the camera to catch my pores...which could use some minimizing, and also my spiky grey hairs that are just so hard to contain. They are screaming to be covered up again. It must have been the birthday glow because somehow I don't look near as frazzled as I usually do by the end of the day. This is me at 32...no airbrushing. I've been doing a good amount of self-reflection lately for many different reasons. The New Year is always a time for Chris and I to set goals. I'm not a "resolution" type of person, as I more prefer a goal-setting focus. I don't call them resolutions because I don't think they are "resolute". Goals are a continual effort...not always reac...

Paige has had a few milestones I didn't want going undocumented. In early December her BFF cousin, Addison, was baptized. This is a big step and one we've been discussing a lot in our home, too. In our church we believe at the age of 8 a child is old enough to be accountable for their decisions. They can also choose to be baptized as an official member of the LDS Church and make a covenant with God to follow Jesus Christ (see more here ). Paige has had wonderful examples to look to and attending Addy's baptism put Paige over the top in her level of excitement. Since that time not a day goes by we aren't talking about Paige's baptism that will occur later this year.   We are proud of our sweet niece, Addison, and are grateful for the wonderful example she is to our little girls. We enjoyed sharing in her special day.  Our little girl is just growing up.  Shortly after the New Year, Paige's other front tooth fell out. Dad helped orchestrate the toot...

My sister, Rochelle, and I had made plans early on to spend New Year's Eve together. I think we've been together the last few years and since we didn't see each other at Christmas, we were really looking forward to a big bash to ring in 2013. Since both of our husbands were working on the 31st, she brought the kids up early so the kids could play and we could chat and visit. Chris came home with Cheesecake Factory for the adults and the kids had pizza.  Carson and Addy introduced Paige to Minecraft. In this picture they are actually playing with each other, even though it doesn't look like it. Kids these days, I tell ya.  Fin and Miles enjoyed the veggies and dip for quite a while  Starting at 5:00 PM I had balloons with an activity inside for (almost) every half hour until the kids' official New Year (9:30 PM). It was a fun way to keep them moving from one thing to the next before they got bored. Plus, it's way easier to get the older kids to pla...