Reecey Pie

Man, could this girl pack it away when she was eating purees! She would eat at least a whole coffee cup full of pureed whatever at each meal! More volume than Taggert! (And we're not talking Taggert at that age, we're talking Taggert at the time! And we're not talking about proportional to her size, we're talking about sheer volume!)

It is rare for a meal to take less than an hour at our house. Our kids enjoy the social aspect of eating just as much as the belly filling. :)

Reece is pretty good at trying new things, especially if Daddy or Grandma McClure or Aunt Jenna is eating it :) You'll see here the first time she tried lemonade (at Johnny's Charhouse) having some kind of candy snack in the car and enjoying strawberries just the way her brother did at her age!

Reece loves her bottle, and I'm going to keep giving her one as her snack and before bed probably until she's potty trained--it's helpful potty-wise to know she's just downed 6 ounces of liquid and will most likely have something to do if I set her on the potty. Anyway, for the longest time, while I would make her bottle (which was SO hard for her to watch because she just wanted it right away!), she would lay down on the rug in the kitchen to wait. That's where I would have her lay to drink it so I could clean up from the meal or whatever while she drank :) So that's what you see her doing with Thumbelina (my Mom's baby from when she was a little girl :)

And there's something to be said for a girl who still looks beautiful with food all over her face :)

Reece's baby blessing was wonderful. She was surrounded by so much family, and was wearing the dress that Grandma Kim, my Mom, was christened in. Perfect!

Grandma and Grandpa Klaiss even got a cake for the occasion.

Reece just started saying "Paki" and we went to visit him today. This was the first time my Dad had heard her call him by name, and it was so sweet. I love watching my Dad make my kids smile and laugh. He's good at it :)

A few of my favorite pictures of our gorgeous daughter. Tagg often says, "I can't wait to see what Reece looks like when she grows up!" And I couldn't agree more.

She still loves the swings, and I still love that face! And hey, I still squeeze her into that brown skirt I like so much!

Classic Reece faces. Especially the bottom-left one.

Oh my, is she a girl! She loves the following:

BABIES.

Cooking

Cleaning

Swishy skirts

Shoes (especially stylish ones)

Purses

And Babies. Lots of babies.

Reece went through a phase where every 5 minutes it was "Buh-ee Woouh-ee" (Buzz and Woody) and she got so excited when we'd put the movies on. Thank goodness for Grandma Kim and Pocki letting us borrow their Toy Story 2 and 3 DVD's! I honestly enjoy watching ridiculous amounts of those shows, though. They're funny.

Reece has loved nursery at church from day one. (It doesn't hurt that her nursery leaders are fantastic, enthusiastic and wonderful women!)

She adores being out of the house (especially "Sie" -- Outside) and with friends. Tagg didn't start preschool till he was 3, but Reece thrives in general when she gets time at "school" with her friends and teachers. I love the time we live in--I feel like there are so many well-organized resources to help parenting be easier and really tailored to the needs of each child. Reece now goes to the same preschool as Taggert and she loves it. We got her a tiny backpack and she didn't take that thing off the whole first day we had it--not even to get strapped into her carseat or high chair! She never looks back, just gives me a hug and says "Bye!" The first day, Tagg wanted to drop her off with me before going to his class so he could see how she liked it :) They are a sweet pair. I love them.

Reecey Pie enjoys electronics and has lots of fun pretending to be bigger than she is :)

Those faces crack us up!

Sweet, calm Baby Reece. Love you, little girl.

She constantly climbs in and on things--she has more bumps and bruises than Taggert does so far, and she wouldn't have it any other way! I try to anticipate what she might try, but she is very quick and very creative :)

We've all loved this one from day one.

I know this will be embarrassing in the future... but I need to remember little moments like this, what she was like during the precious everyday things I will otherwise forget.

Mommy

Taggert finished filled up an obedience chart with stickers on November 29th, so on the 30th we redeemed his prize by taking the train up to Chicago to ride the Ferris Wheel at Navy Pier! It was totally wonderful! Reece even got her naps in on the train, and Taggert got to ride next to a guy he thought looked like Superman :) (When he told the guy that, he said he got that all the time!)

When the train arrived in Chicago, we walked to the bus station and took that to Navy Pier. We rode the Ferris Wheel once and came back home! It was chilly, but so delightful and peaceful, too!

Top left: Riding behind Taggert as he drives the little 4 wheeler. Bottom middle: Cheese dinosaurs I carved for Taggie!

We trucked it back up to the city (driving this time!) to go to the Museum of Science and Industry--to see the plastinates! Taggert is fascinated by the human body and how it works, so we took advantage of the opportunity to check out the real deal. It was amazing--another good trip!

Delivering May Day baskets to our sweet neighbors!

For some reason, I made up this silly little tune that I would sing to Reece all the time--I don't know where it came from! But she loved it!!

Taggert and Reece, being your mommy is so wonderful! I've always felt like it's what I was born to do; I have been preparing to be as good as I can for you ever since I was a little girl. There is truly nothing I would rather do than take care of you-- I love you with all my heart!

Daddy and Reece

Daddy and Reece have a special bond. She looks like Mom and acts like Dad :)

Now, at 18 months, she pretty much only chills and cuddles with Daddy (especially if he's watching soccer :) She likes to be with Mom, but the calmness Daddy imparts to her is second only to her blanket and thumb.

I put the middle picture up on Reece's wall, and a couple weeks ago I was giving her bedtime a go (usually Daddy's job). She kept pointing towards the door and making her nice "I want that" sound. As I got close to the door it became evident that she wasn't pointing at the door itself, but at Daddy in the picture, hanging up next to the door! I asked, "Do you want Daddy?" and of course she gave her sweet nod and I put Tagg to bed instead ;)

Daddy and his girls... (the picture at the top is Gabriela, the baby on the bottom is Reece.)

Reece, especially when she was super little, loved to hear "Good job, Baby Reece!" When I found this video, I realized why :)

The very beginning of this girl's life. She still sounds a lot like that, surprisingly, just has a bit more mature voice now.

If you've seen 5 seconds of this video you've seen it all, basically, but I couldn't bear to edit anything out... it's one of the first times her Daddy held her! (And she is a Daddy's Girl! --So I'm sure she'll be glad to have this one day :)

My first time swaddling her... I really really enjoyed the routine we had in her early months; it allowed me to meet her needs before they reared their vocal heads, and she had a very calm infancy. She was swaddled for quite a while... maybe 8 months or so? And now (16 months) she still adores her receiving blankets.

Mike & Alanna visited us... I love these pictures because they're snapshots of real life :) (And I swear Reece seemed more comfortable from my vantage point!)

Waiting for Reece

Sweet Taggert... "Baby Reece... Come out of Mommy's belly... Play?"

I loved being so close to home so we could share little moments like these with my family :)

This is a long video, but it's got a lot of belly action goin on :)

{for myself and the grandparents ;) ... I know we're the only ones who will watch this! }

Baby Reece

After nine months of this...

...we took Tagg to Grandma and Grandpa Klaiss's, went out to a Mexican restaurant for refried beans, I got a foot massage, we counted contractions for an hour, got the go-ahead from the doctor to git-er-done, broke my water, gave me some pitosin, and hung out in the hospital for a few days...

My belly looked CRAZY after they broke my water!

I got the epidural right away this time... I'm glad I had the experience of Jed helping me through the first seven drug-free hours of labor with Taggert, but... once was enough :) We enjoyed ourselves waiting for the big moment. I would say the hardest part of labor this time around was how darn hungry I was by the time I needed to push. When she arrived (hollerin'), she wasn't quite the right color (purple) -- which we noticed after basking in her presence for what seemed to me to be a few minutes. The cord had been wrapped around her neck; the wonderful doctor calmly brought her around and we began our adventure with Baby Reece! Grandma Kim was there for the birth again, and we're so glad she was!

Taggert stayed with Grandma & Grandpa Klaiss, and they arrived a few hours after she was born, so it was just me, Jed and Reece for a bit.

I'm writing this 16 months later, and she still looks like the picture on the top left when she sleeps. :)