Halloween 2009-Part 2

Grandma Julie is so good about making sure that people feel loved and appreciated and she does it in some of the simplest ways: cute little gifts. You can always count on her to give you small gifts for occasions such as birthdays, Mother's/Father's Day, Valentine's, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine's, etc. This is Reese's second (I believe) gift basket from Grandma Julie. Here is a video of Mommy (okay, only my voice) and Reese as we open his Halloween gift basket!

Reese really enjoyed all the good things that Grandma Julie gave him!

When the night was through, this is what Reese came home and did: Rested with Daddy on the couch to watch television!

It was an exhausting day and we're all here waiting to fall asleep on the couch! It was a rough night last night due to teething. Reese slept in our bed and we all had a very restless night. Here's praying for tonight to be much better and for those teeth to come in quickly and smoothly!

Halloween 2009-Part 1

This is Reese's first BIG holiday (if we can call it a "holiday")! When I was pregnant last year I was shopping at Toys 'R Us and saw the perfect Halloween costume....a costume that I had seen for years and wanted to buy one day when I had a baby. Since it was after Halloween it was marked way down on clearance. So, I bought it on a whim! It was a cute little Pea Pod costume (very multi-gender appropriate) and I paid around $6.49 for it. It has sat in the closet ever since and I was praying that Reese would be able to wear it for Halloween. I put him in it a few days ago and he just barely fits! Good thing I found it on clearance! Here are the adventures of Reese's first Halloween:

First, Reese and Grandma Julie came to visit Mommy at work during the Halloween Party!

It was Mommy's early day off of work so we took the opportunity to go visit Great Grandma...or GiGi as we thought of calling her.

Since we were in the area we decided to go see Papa Dale too!

And of course since we were there, he saw Pretty too!

Layaway

Well, we started our Christmas shopping for Reese and we're proud to say that after 4 toy choices we are ALMOST DONE! This was the first time (and probably only time) that we took Reese with us and let him help us pick out his gifts. He seemed so excited about all of the gifts, but especially one specific one. We even put him on the floor in Kmart and let him play with it. He loved it! The layaway lady was joking about how she is the "bad lady who takes away all the toys until Christmas"! Reese is too young to even understand that but his face sure looked sad when he realized we weren't taking them home with us today. Here are the items we've put in layaway for Reese's first Christmas!

The V-Tech Laptop (mentioned in previous post). A boy after daddy's own heart....electronics! We're hoping to get him his own fake Blackberry too so he can be just like Mommy and Daddy!


















Leapfrog Spin and Sing alphabet. This will teach Reese his alphabet, animals, and animal sounds!

















A Plush Grover that is probably just as big as Reese is right now! Zac asked what Reese would do with it and I said "Cuddle it and carry it around!" We showed it to Reese to see if he wanted it and he was smiling and trying to reach for him.









This ended up being the toy that Reese was the most excited about. It is called "Izzy Inchworm" and can be attached to his stroller. The middle ball on the worm is a compartment with a snap lid where we can put cheerios (or snack of choice) while the other balls have music, mirrors, toys, etc. This is the toy that Reese sat on the floor in Kmart playing with. This is the toy that I had to put away while Zac walked Reese away. This is the toy that Reese seemed the most sad about when the lady was bagging it up for layaway. I'm sure by now that Reese has no recollection about it, but by Christmas morning I'm sure all that joy and excitement will come upon him again. Reese will only be just shy of 9 months at Christmas but we believe that he is going to be full of awe and wonder on Christmas morning and just as excited as any other older child.

There are a few other small things that we'd like to get him like clothes, books (which I pretty much have stocked up on thanks to my job and Scholastic book orders!), and hopefully a toy that will help him learn how to walk. We're excited to spend this first holiday with our Mr. Man! Zac's parents are going to Hawaii the beginning of December but will be back in time to spend Reese's first Christmas with him. My dad and step-mom are flying to Florida on Christmas Eve and will be missing Reese's first Christmas. I'm pretty bummed, but life goes on!

Well, I've sneezed like 72 times tonight alone so I think I'm going to head to bed and rest up for a big day tomorrow! Church, lesson planning and the David Crowder concert. It's sure to be a great day! : )

Reese's Christmas List

While strolling the aisles at Target today I realized that my little boy will be enjoying his very first Christmas at almost 9 months old very soon! Looking at all the toys was a bit overwhelming because we want our son to enjoy the awesomeness of opening presents (mainly toys) but knowing that we have:

1.) Very limited funds

2.) Very limited storage/space

3.) Developmental milestones that we want to hit and
not overstimulate by choosing toys that are beyond his developmental abilities at the moment.

Here are a few things that Reese (as we think) would like:

This is called the "Elmo Knows My Name" phone. When you plug it into the computer you can match your child's name to the phone and Elmo and friends will personally say your child's name and leave voicemails for them periodically. Elmo knows over 15,000 names and Reese is one of them! I think Reese would love to hear Elmo say his name!


Price: $14.99 at Target








The is "Tubby Tug Fishing Boat Bath Toy". I saw this and thought that it was pretty darn cute. Reese will be sitting up in the bathtub soon and this would be a cute toy for him to play with. Of course, any other bath toys would be fun and welcomed, but Momma thinks the tug boat is adorable!


Price: $18.39 at Target







Next runner up is the "V-Tech Baby Laptop". This is so Reese and so his daddy too! We showed this to Reese at the store and his face just lit up. Anything with lights and sounds (and really anything technological altogether) is A Okay in Reese's book!

Price: $15.99 at Target













Anything "Toy Story" or Buzz Lightyear. Reese seems to be intrigued by Buzz, his voice and all of his features. An original Buzz in the box like in the movie would be a great collectible to put on the shelf.

Price: $14.99-99.99








"Presenting the further adventures of everybody's favorite superhero, the man who is faster than lightening, stronger than steel, smarter than a speeding bullet...it's Super Grover!" Whenever Super Grover comes on the television Reese starts giggling. In fact, that was the first time we heard him really giggle around 3 weeks old watching Grover sneeze! Any Sesame Street plush toys or hand puppets would be nice. He likes Grover, Elmo, Oscar, Cookie Monster, Big Bird, etc.

Price: $7.00 at sesamestreet.org

To be continued....

What's for dinner?

Well, tonight was one of those nights where dinner became a "what do we have?" or "fend for yourself" nights. So we started out with an appetizer of chips and salsa,

For our main course we had spaghetti

And for dessert we ended with hot, store bought (not as good as homemade) Monkey Bread!

Bon Appetite!

Good things are happening...

Wow! Has it really been 4 months since I updated?!?! Well, I guess it shows how crazy busy we are here in the Holmes Household! In mid-May I went back to work full-time and in mid-June I switched daycare locations and positions. I absolutely love my new job, but it is quite exhausting! I teach 20 three-year olds everyday then come home to my own infant (and husband). Let's just say that momma requires lots and lots of sleep for now!

Reese is an amazing little man! He is growing and learning way too fast for us. He is so smart! He will be turning 6 months old on Sunday, October 4th and there are many new milestones for him:

~Reese has been rolling over for almost 2 months now and is starting to bear his head into the floor and get up on his toes. An early sign of trying to crawl (or creep).

~Reese has been eating cereal and applesauce for about 2 months as well and has been on vegetables for one whole week so far! We started with Sweet Potatoes, of which he is doing fabulously with! I think we're gonna have a good eater on our hands!

~Today, I think I felt the slightest of sharpness on his gums which is probably the beginning of his first tooth! (And if his behavior the last week or so is any signs of how he will be with this whole teething process...Thank you Jesus for such a strong little man! He is an amazing teether!)

~Lots of babbling has been happening lately too! Although I know the things he says are not intentional yet a few of the words we've heard are: "Momma, Dada, Nana, Yum, and All done (seriously, Zac and I both heard something that sounded like it!)

~He still makes the best faces that we've ever seen! He's quite the comedian!

~Reese loves being outside! As soon as the door opens his face lights up! He loves going on walks in the stroller with his grandma when she comes to watch him on Mondays. He is in awe of the outdoors and everything around. A walk in the stroller will help calm him and make him fall asleep. Zac and I are confused as to who he got his love of outdoors from since neither one of us really is outdoorsy.

~Reese falls asleep every night anywhere between 8:30 and 10:00pm and doesn't wake up until 8:00-8:30am. I can't remember the last time we had to wake up in the middle of the night or early morning to feed him. Most days we are waking him up by 8:30am so he can start his day! He's got skills. Sleeping skills. Learned/inherited from both mom and dad!

"It won't be like this for long..."

*Love that song (my blog title) by Darius Rucker. If you haven't heard it yet you must. It is a real tear jerker. Still gets me every time!*

Reese is now 7 1/2 weeks old! There has been so much happening and not enough time to blog about it. So, here is a rundown of things that have been a happening over the course of the last month:

• Reese weighed 7lbs. 10oz. at his one-month checkup on May 4th. Today, May 27th, he weighed 9lbs!
• He has been sleeping through the night since the second day we came home from the hospital. He used to wake me up every two hours on the dot for a feeding, but now we can go in 4-5 hour stretches, and sometimes even longer!
• He has smiled since week two of life. The smiles are more frequent now, especially when his tummy is full! He is such a beautiful little guy.
  
• He is cooing lots and lots too! We love hearing him "talk" to us and we can't wait to hear what his voice will sound like someday soon.
• He has the best faces ever! We think he'll be a little comedian just like his Uncle Drew was when he was little. We love the furrowed brows and cross eyes that he makes quite often. He makes us laugh on a daily basis.
  
• He has been rolling over from back to side and sometimes belly since week two of life. He is such a strong little boy. He lifts his head and stands/pushes against our bellies very well.
• He is finally wearing size 1 diapers and starting to fit into newborn clothes!
• We just started him on rice cereal because he seemed oh so hungry and I didn't feel that he was being adequately fed by me. He has been doing so well being spoon fed the cereal. No throwing up or major spit ups yet and it really helps him sleep through the night. He slept from 9:30pm to 5:00am two nights ago!
• I went back to work on May 18th after being on maternity leave for 6 weeks. My time off went by really fast and it has been hard to be back and away from my son, but I know he is in good hands. Zac gets to spend time with him as well as my mom, Zac's mom, Aunt Tammy, Keely and whoever else might be available to help.
• He is now on a rotating schedule of breast milk and formula since so far I have not been able to produce enough milk for three bottles a day while I am gone. (Man, formula is expensive, even though I haven't had to buy any yet.)
• He loves his swing and sadly I must admit that it is where he sleeps the majority of the time. We've tried the crib but as soon as you put him down he wakes up. I think it is just way too big and has a lot of empty space that it freaks him out a little bit.
• All in all, we are really impressed with just how advanced and strong this little man is. We are so proud to be parents to such an amazing and really good baby. He amazes us each and everyday with his new advancements or smiles. He really melts our hearts and has a huge fan club wherever he goes. We love him to pieces!

One last thing: We had asked for prayer for Reese concerning his health and I'd just like to report that, Praise the Lord, everything is okay! We had found a lump above his left breast and were concerned about either a calcium deposit or a swollen lymph node. I took him to the doctor today and he said he is just fine! It is from hormones in my breast milk. I am to do nothing to it and let it heal on its own. As long as it doesn't become red and irritated or engorged anymore he should be just fine. Praise the Lord!!!