Um yeah...about that bird feeder...

Ok, so I realize that earlier today I highly recommended a bird feeder.  But thaaaaaaat was until they went from "nuts" to POSESSED!  The cute little birds were fun to watch and it was peaceful earlier.  But I got home this afternoon, and these birds have gotten out of control. It's like they rounded up all their mean blackbird friends and brought them all over! ugh - i'm gonna have nightmares about this if it gets worse.  And
this pic wasn't even the worst of it.  Half of them had already flown away when I got this pic.  Anyway, just had to throw that out there as a disclaimer to my earlier post.  Get a bird feeder at your own risk! :)

On a more fun note, Brooklyn went for her first wagon ride with Reed this afternoon.  Both of their faces are ridiculous.  She is ecstatic, and he is Joe Cool over there:

Ok, this one is more like Reed:

(Please excuse the non-weeded, unmulched flowerbed, and also B's random outfit!)  It's been a long day.  Ready to spend some time with my hubby and a glass of vino!

CMR

It's been way too long!

Hi Friends!
Well I think it's been almost a year since my last post!  We have had so many changes and updates within that year, but I'll skip to the highlights:  Reed is now 2.5 years old and already talking about when he turns 3 this summer, and Brooklyn was born in September so is now just over 5 months old.  Life has gone from busy to MUCH busier, but also from good to great!  I couldn't be more thankful for these 2 little blessings in my life, and everything else God has blessed us with!

Jon and I just celebrated our 5 year anniversary in January.  Can't believe it's been that long.  Hasn't been without our ups and downs, as I imagine most married couples have, but I wouldn't trade any day of it for the world.  We have gotten so much closer over the past 5 years and now together we are enjoying watching our 2 kiddos grow up & interact with eachother.  LOVE!

So, I've been inspired to jump back onto my blog!  It's been so long and I just haven't been able to find the time to do it.  So as I was getting back on, I see that there are so many updates to the template, etc.  I somehow managed to delete all my old formatting and really messed it up for a while there.  I was able to just revert to a "classic" template for now.  I've gotta figure out the whole formatting thing again when I have some time.  But for now, B is taking a short nap and Reed is watching Rio.  Every few minutes, as I'm typing this, he is asking me to come watch the movie with him.  So I don't have much time.  Just wanted to post a quick update and let you know that posts will be on the way!

I have to give a inspirational thank you to my little sister who recently started her blog.  It has inspired me to restart this up again.  Audrey's blog is wonderful!  http://www.liveforhimpsalms.blogspot.com/  She is so cute, and I am so proud of her! 

I'm happy to say that we are finally (long overdue) going thru the membership process at our church - Watermark Community Church.  It's a pretty good drive for us, but so well worth it.  I love that some of our best friends are also joining with us!  But more importantly, I'm so excited to become more connected and serve within our church.  There are some amazing ministries that I can't wait to jump into!

Okay, gotta run to go watch Rio with my little man, but more posts and updates on the way!  (And hopefully more consistantly this time!)  For now, here is a pic that I just took a couple of hours ago of my 2 little munchkins playing together up in the gameroom. Reed is skipping his nap today so he's a little delirious, and was cracking up for some reason while trying to hold Brooklyn in his lap! Precious! 

In Him, 
CMR

Updates - 2011!

Wow...I think my last post was in November?! Somehow I had more time to do this WHILE I was working! So far this year has been keeping us busy...mainly just enjoying spending time with Reed as he is growing up so fast :( This is such a fun age, which I could just freeze him here! We found out in January that we are expecting our 2nd little one in September! Reed is convinced he is having a "baby sister" as he says, even though the sonogram lady said she was about 80% sure it will be another boy. Jon wants to get a 3D sonogram done in a week or two to find out for sure what it will be. Other than that, all is the same - Jon's job is going well, he is loving it. And I am loving my job with Reed as my boss! Here are a few pics from this year. The best is the video at the very end of Reed looking at the "hibiscus": My favorite close up :) Reed and Grampi feeding the deer bread Reed got his first official haircut from a professional...my stepmom. This is his Before pic During... Afterwards with his cool new do! Reed and Kota sharing ice cream We took Reed to the FTW zoo..he LOVED it and still talks about all the animals he saw Reed's first car washing experience with dad...he figured out the spray gun! Got Kota with his new weapon And also thought it was hilarious to spray everyone else he could! Going sledding when we had the snow storm in January Kota catching him Just chillin'...something he likes to do while watching Dora the Explorer!
Hilarious video of Reed looking at the "hibiscus" flower with Grandma...too cute!

What's New...

Staying at home is AWESOME! Reed & I seem to be so busy all day long. I have no idea how I ever had time to work full time! It's pretty exhausting as well, but still wouldn't trade my time with my little man for the world.

I am enjoying "fixing" up the house little by little. Love doing what I call "HGTV projects" around the house. Now that all the paperwork, Christmas decorating, and closet organizing is done (well mostly), it's on to master bathroom updates! Anyone know how to take down a huge mirror without just totally destroying the wall behind it??! hmmm...will let you know how that one turns out :)

Jon is loving his job as well & all is going great there. We have been, and continue to be, so blessed. We are just so thankful for everything God has provided in our lives. I love this Christmas season because we are constantly reminded of His amazing grace & goodness, and the ultimate sacrifice He made for all of us!

Here are a few recent pics of Reed from this past month.





He LOVES the camera...seriously, it's pretty hilarious


Sweet Kota. If Cali would stay still long enough to get a picture of her, I'd post it!


The tree! It's up! Special thanks to my mom & Christie Smith for helping me decorate. There is NO WAY I could have ever done it by myself! (the ladder only reached half way up the tree!)

I thought Reed might be scared of Jon's new paintball mask...but he loved it & thought it was hilarious

Rough-housing as usual

Like father like son!

"Retirement, a time to enjoy all the things you never had time to do when you worked"...

....like spending time with my boys! Well, many new things have been going on lately...but probably the BIGGEST is that I will be "retiring" from my job on October 8. Yep! Last day with Pulte will be Oct 8th, and then I will be staying home with my little man every day. It's so exciting & we could not feel more incredibly blessed to be able to do this. Reed is super excited as well! It will definitely be a shift from what we have been used to, but I think I can handle it :). Now, I have so many things to do....organizing the office, cleaning out some closets, begin morning yoga classes....the list could go on & on :)

And Reed....well he is as nuts as ever. He has really started talking lately! ....or should I say "talking". Regardless, his vocabulary has really exploded just within the last few weeks. He says all kinds of new sounds. It's like he just figured out that he could make all kinds of different sounds & now practices on them daily. He mimics everything! He drank root beer the other day (thank you Christie Smith), and now says "roo roo". Just yesterday, I was talking to Jon & in our conversation I said something and then said "oh crap" And then my little mini-me next to me all of a sudden started saying "ccccaaa ccccaaa". So...I guess this might be a GREAT time to begin watching what we say??

Here are a few recent pics:

Could someone please tell me when he turned into a little MAN?!

Reed in his new preppy Polo jeans - Thanks Grampi & Grammi :) He looks pretty frat-tastic.

Speaking of "mimicing", this is Reed mimicing Cali. Cali found a spot on the patio that had accumulated some water & licked it up. Reed saw her and well....

I was out of town last week for work. This was the pic Jon sent me of Reed after just waking up one morning :) Getting some fresh air before the morning sun gets too hot.

Friday Night Lights with Dad! Reed's first live football game...he was AMAZED with everything going on on the field.

When the house gets too quiet, something is usually wrong....except in this case :) Jon found Reed reading by himself on the couch.

Reed's 1 Year Pictures

We took Reed's 1 year pictures last weekend, and I just got all the pics back. I am so excited, they turned out SO super cute! I have way too many cute ones to post them all, so here are just a few of our most favorites. I gotta give a shout out to our awesome photographer, Travis Cobb, who was able to capture Reed & all those little smiles as fast as Reed moves! Travis was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! If anyone needs a great photographer for a great price to come to your house (or wherever you choose), I highly highly recommend him! Let me know if you need his contact info.
Reed now looks like a full out TODDLER! So much for my little newborn infant!? He is so much fun...enjoy the pics! :)

Oh, and also, would love to get yalls opinion! This is kinda fun since we get SO many different opinions...after seeing these recent pics, who do you think Reed looks more like? Jon or Christie?? Fill out the poll on the right.