Playing outside

Now that the weather is warming up, we've been spending more time outside. And trying to make our yard look a little better rather than it's current state of neighborhood dog-poo stop. Michael's been working hard the last few days raking leaves out of the side and back yard. The lady who lived here before us, as a neighbor told us "discouraged grass to grow by letting the leaves pile up". Meaning there's about 30 years of leaves and branches that needs to be cleaned up! But the plus is that the soil underneath seems really good! Reed has been a big help. He LOVES playing outside, and as soon as Michael gets home from work he's ready to go! He helps Michael move leaves around, eats dirt by the handfuls (or just lays on his belly and licks it up), puts rocks in his dump truck and runs all over! Here's a few pics from yesterday. Enjoy!

Oh, and on the Molly front - still not here! She's just enjoying her time in my belly I guess. The doctor says any time now! Of course, she said that last week, too. So we'll just have to wait for Miss Molly to decide she's ready!

What's been going on

We've been pretty busy. Sorry for the lack of blog updates. Hopefully you'll get your fill out of this post, as it may be a while before I have time again! So biggest news: I went to the doctor and even though Molly is not due for another 3 weeks, doc says it will probably be this week. And probably sooner rather than later! So we were busy today working on her room. Mom and Dad came over to watch Reed while I was at the doctor and to help around the house. Mom and I worked on a mural in Molly's room, while Dad played with Reed and worked on some trim. They also got her window treatments hung, and they are gorgeous! Here's some photos of her room:





So Reed has had a lot going on, too! We've been working on his sleeping. We are no longer rocking him to sleep anymore, and he's going to sleep on his own. Which is going really well! Although sometimes at naptime he chooses to play instead of sleep. This is what we found the other day when we went to get him after a nap in which he choose to play instead.





That's right, he apparently got a little hungry and took a chunk out of his crib. And he was pretty proud of himself. He made sure to show me what he had done. And couldn't understand why I wasn't happy about this! Hopefully this will be a one-time thing!

And this last one is him and his Daddy reading books after Michael got home from work. So sweet!

Playdate at the CDM

We've had several playdates lately at the Creative Discovery Museum, and I finally remembered to bring my camera. We met Amy and Anna Kate this morning for a visit. We decided to get a membership recently, and it has been such a good deal and great place to meet (especially good deals since they let two families split a family membership!) And the kiddos really seem to enjoy it!











And well, these photos are thrown in here just because they are fun. Reed is really getting good at using a spoon! And he especially enjoyed his oatmeal this morning with fresh strawberries mixed in!

weekend fun

This weekend had just beautiful weather! And we took full advantage. On Saturday we went to Miss Ada's first birthday party, which was a ton of fun! Happy Birthday, Ada! And then on Sunday, Michael's parents and grandparents came down for a visit. We took them to Signal Point to enjoy the views and then to the Pumpkin Patch playground so Reed could play. He loved it! Here's a few photos from the day. Enjoy! Oh, and thanks to Corneice for the photos! I brought my camera, however the battery died right after we got there! Whoops!

Pacifier Free!

Well, it's official. Reed has been pacifier-free for over a week, and doing great! The first few nights were a little rough, but he's doing great now! I'm so proud of him! I have to sort of laugh at myself for thinking this is blog-worthy material - but then, my blog is how I remember things. So I guess it's more for my benefit than yours! Oh well.

So instead I'll finish up with just a few pics from this weekend ... Maybe it's a fair trade.

Reed carrying around Granna's purse. This is before he realized he
could drape it around his neck and carry it like a mailman.

Reed helping out with piling up the firewood from the
trees that Papa T and Daddy cut down.

Weekend in Gatlinburg

We spent last weekend in Gatlinburg partly with the youth group from our old church, and partly with Michael's family. Even though it was really cold, we had a great time! We tried to ride up into the mountains to get some snowy pictures, but the roads were closed. So we settled for some creekside shots instead.

Here's a few photos from the weekend, and you can see the rest here.

Gramma, Grumpy, and the grandkids

Aren't these the sweetest boys ever?

Caleb "climbed" some of the rocks on the mountain.

Kaelyn towering over the rocks. Isn't she a little cutie?

playing in the cabinets

This was the start ...

And this was this morning after he mastered the art
of emptying the cabinet in 30 seconds flat.