What We've Been Up To

I'm way behind on pictures, so sorry... there are a bunch. Can't help it though... she has done lots of cute stuff lately!! Have to show off a little bit. FYI, my Daddy left today! We are quite sad on our end, but SO happy for him that his treatment is done and he can get life back to normal. Thanks to everyone for all your thoughts and prayers... the whole thing was just a huge blessing. And Reagan is not going to know WHAT to do now that Granddaddy isn't here everyday!

Speaking of, she would often ask where Grandmommy was while he was here. It was hard for her to get it that they weren't here together! So she would find a picture of her and carry it around saying "Hi Grandmommy." Here she is with her picture giving her a kiss. Too sweet.

Last weekend we got to spend time with David's family. While out to eat, Reagan ONLY wanted to sit with Grammy and Poppy, and she was pretty good and entertained. That means Mommy actually got to enjoy a good meal! Yay!
We ate at a YUMMY Mexican place, and here is Reagan tasting her first quail.
For nearly an hour, she entertained herself by dipping the straw in Poppy's water then sipping the drop or two out of the end. Man, kids are so funny!

Reagan wouldn't take her eye off the American Express card long enough for the picture. We're in trouble....
Here are more pics of her doing some crafty painting with water in her high chair. I love how she concentrates! I love her piggies in her hair even more!

This was a photo shoot after her bath the other day. She was having a really pretty day. :) Plus, everything Mommy said that night was evidently hilarious, so we had some good laughs. Here, she is playing with a sheep that Sage gave her right when she was born. She is really into her sheeps right now....."baaaaaa."

I hav found that I can't move this box of clothes that don't fit her anymore. She loves climbing on it too much!
Sweet smiles!

Putting both her sheeps to go night-night.
"There they are!"

My favorite...
She got to spend a lot of last Saturday home with Daddy in pj's. That's a good day! She had a serious attachment that day to her Tickle Me CookieMonster, and David took pics as she carried it everywhere for hours.

Taking him for a ride on her lion.
Then trying to show him how to do it himself.
Having a little music lesson at the piano.
And reading to him in her books. Do any of you have a toy corner that looks like this? I hope we're not the only ones....
Drum roll please..... Reagan has been asking to poo poo in the potty!!! She has actually accomplished this feat 3 times in the last week or so, so we of course make a HUGE deal out of it. I don't think she really understandsyet, she just thinks it is really fun. But hey, she is pooping in the potty, so we'll take it!!!

Saying bye-bye to the poo poo...
... shutting the lid...
... and flushing! Yay!
*More cute nakedness ahead!!*

She has entered the phase of thinking she can run much faster when she is naked, and thinks it is SO funny to take off right before her bath. I followed that cute little hiney with the camera the other day.

"Oh, this is SO fun!!!" I just love little kid running!!
And I was so busy capturing this on camera that I didn't know what had happend until I looked at the pictures later. But check out that stance and the look on her face....
... and now the puddle in the middle of her train track! I didn't even know!
The look of pure joy... so proud of herself! This has become one of my favorite parts of the day... she just laughs and laughs! (But that day, cleaning up the tinkle, was not my favorite.)
Cute little naked girl!

She has been sick the last couple of days. Yucky stomach bug and fever. Here she is cuddling with Daddy on the couch, and was so very sad about being sick. Certainly Daddy isn't mocking her... (Here is my fuzzy camera. It just takes pics like this about every 5th picture. Ugh!)
Daddy was pretty comfy and zonked out. But they looked so sweet!
When you're a sick little girl around here, you get to watch as much Dora as you want. Only fair when you feel yucky! Here she chillaxes while watching some Dora, showing her her tummy of course. Notice I moved the toy corner over here now. It has a bit of organization to it now at least!

Happy weekend to all! Hope you've avoided the stomach bug! She seems to be on the mend.

Don't Let This Go to Your Head, Steve

Blog friends, meet our friend, Steve Peifer. Reagan got to meet him face to face for the first time a couple weeks ago, and let me say that he came a close second to her Dora Phone at the time, as you can see in the picture. That is impressive. Steve and his family have moved back to Kenya after being in the States for several months, and since he claims he is an avid Reagan's-blog-reader, I thought I would give him a shout out to say HI!
I have a link to Steve's blog over there in the K's -------------------------------------->, but click HERE if you have a few minutes (even if you don't, do it anyway) to see about the Peifer's work in Kenya. It will inspire and bless you beyond words, so seriously, grab a Coke and a straw and watch and be inspired and blessed. The Peifers have been friends with the Beavers for forever, but since I have been a Beaver, I pretty sure I am now his favorite. Scratch that, Reagan is. :) His most recent 15 minutes of fame was when he WON CNN's Hero For Children Award for his mission work, and got to accept his award live, in NYC, in HDtv, from the presenter Tyra Banks! We watched it and were so proud he didn't drool on her dress. :) I would send you the link to CNN about it, but they have changed the site for nominations for 2008. Anyways, if you are looking for a way to richly use some extra pocket change for the Kingdom of God, link to Steve's blog and you can find out how to help. He and his family are literally being Jesus to thousands of kids in Kenya, feeding, educating, and loving them as Christ would.

Dude, we are so blessed by your work over there. Thank you for your amazing example to David and me in what it means to have a heart like Christ. We love y'all!

Precious Moments

--Last night, I had one of those moments that I wished I could burn into my memory and never forget. I figured the best way to do that would be to blog of course. I just have to brag on my sweet little girl for a minute. :) Our nightly routine with Reagan is bath, drink, brush teeth, give night-night kisses, say night-night prayers, then bed. Probably similar to what most of you do... Anyways, she went and gave Granddaddy kisses (David was working, yuck) and we grabbed her Snugglie to rock for a minute. I asked her if she was ready for night-night prayers, and she put her Snugglie down and said "Da." (yes, in Russian.) Usually, I say her prayers, thanking God for all our family members, for our day, praying for our friends having babies, etc, and she agrees with me by nodding her head and saying Da. But she put her Snugglie down and started all by herself! She slapped her "praying hands" together without me asking, then started in her little voice and language,

"...Granddaddy....MaMommy(Grandmommy)... Poppy... Mammy(Grammy)... Daddy... Granddaddy... Mommy... Granddaddy." (all the "..." being her gibberish language inbetween that only God can understand)

So, after mentioning Granddaddy for the third time, I guess that ended her prayer because she picked her Snugglie back up and buried her face in it. For Reagan, it was a day for parents and grandparents. Anyways, it was the sweetest thing I think she has done in her whole life, and that says a lot since she is sweet a lot! I just figure the quiet voice of an 18 month old saying her own prayers has got to melt the heart of God even more than it did mine! I had to explain to Daddy when I came out of her room crying. Such a precious moment.

--Oh, and to settle all the suspense, here is my Christmas present from Jim and Katie. It's our own 16x20 oil painting, and yes, I am going to be one of those vain people that have a painting of themselves in their living room! My MIL is an identical twin, and her twin (Reagan's GREAT Aunt Mary) is a phenomenal artist. She just finished it and sent the pic to me so I could see it before she ships it. It wasn't a surprise, I knew it was my present. But although I have seen her paintings and I knew I would love it, I had no idea how much! It will be such a treasure to me and to Reagan forever! So so fun. I'll show pics when I get it hung up... I just love love love it!! Click on it to see it better... I think my favorite parts are our hands. They really look just like my hands and Reagan's!! And she gave me an extra half-carat or so on my diamond earrings, which is always a bonus. :) Not that I wish they were bigger, honey....

Anyways, hope your weekend is great and full of life's precious moments! I am being beckoned to go watch Bob and Larry... gotta run. :)

Christmas Pictures Part 2

Can I just start this post with saying that it seriously stinks when your camera isn't working at Christmas??! I have been so much better with picture taking as a Mommy than before I was a Mommy, but I always had my camera at my disposal. My FIL let me use his at Christmas with the Beavers, but I'm just not as diligent I guess without my own. All that to say I am ashamed at the lack of adequate pics from Beaver Christmas. I'll get it fixed soon hopefully, before I am out of the habit!

But here goes. And there are some cuties. :) Like these... Reagan spent the majority of her time and Grammy and Poppy's house on the REALLY STEEP stairs. She LOVES stairs. Scares me to death, especially when she did a few tumbles. We watch her like a hawk, but still...

Aunt Mary is the favorite for spending the most time with her on the stairs!
She would go slow as Reagan climbed all the way to the top, then they would "scoot" down on their hineys (sp?) together. This was BIG FUN for Reagan, and Mary was sweet enough to act like it was fun for her too.
Wearing Daddy's boots (we LOVE shoes right now), frowning at that big blue blob Poppy bought for her. She really was unsure about that thing.
"hmmm... what do I do with this?"
"To get better acquainted, better show it my tummy."
"Ta Da!"
"What is this big squishy thing anyways?"
Can you tell she got it all figured out!? PERFECT for Dora-watching.
Grammy has these electric candles in every window of the house. Probably not the safest thing for Reagan to do, but she liked to use it as her microphone. Cool. Can I also point out her precious new outfit from Aunt Mary and Uncle Kyle and cool new Crocs to match from Grammy and Poppy! LOVE IT.
Stylin' in a present from her stocking.
Cutie.
Look at all the loot under the tree!! It was so fun. Here, Reagan is showing off her kilt that Grammy got her before she was born. She looked so cute in it with her tights! I guess there is Scottish heritage!
This penguin dances and sings "IceIce Baby."
She still carries it around here at home!
This is just a funny picture of Uncle Turbo (James) with his new Christmas toy. He got a PS3 and a steering wheel for driving games. I love how the big boys still get toys for Christmas! They each got remote control helicopters too! (which is what we got 4 year old Corbin...)
Snuggle time with Uncle Turbo while he attempts to work.

Just a cutie pic that actually has me in it. Although, I hope it is just the coloring on the camera and that my lip gloss didn't actually look THAT red with no one telling me!!!
Sweet sweet pic with Grammy, Reagan, and her new favorite friend, CareBear. Thanks for that Uncle Turbo!!! (he picked it out himself)
I had to show one of the cool presents from Grammy and Poppy. This train does so much stuff!! It's awesome, and Reagan LOVES it. We didn't get it out of the box til we got home, and now she plays with it constantly everyday! Really recommend this toy.
Here she is playing with it with Aunt BB. And new baby cousin in her tummy. I am sure he was enjoying all the animal sounds and phonics. :)
Just WAIT until I post the pic of my Christmas present from FIL and MIL. It is unbelieveable. I'll post it soon. :)