Strawberry Patch, Take Two

One might think that 9 lbs of strawberries the first time around would been enough... not when I have two fruit bats for children! So, we headed back to the Strawberry Farm, this time with Daddy!

Oh, I could just EAT her.

Showing off their goodies.

Now... TECHNICALLY one is not supposed to eat the fruit in the field before it is washed or paid for.

"Hey Mom! What's that behind you???"

"Look over there, and pay no attention to what is in my other hand!"

Do you think anyone missed the evidence of our rule-breaking?? Sheesh, she was COVERED in strawberry drool! Don't think anyone was gonna get her in trouble though, she's too cute.

After picking, we got some snacks and had a picnic. It was the MOST GORGEOUS day, and honestly one of my favorite days EVER as a family. So fun.

Thief stole my sunglasses.

Daddy always becomes the jungle gym.

Thief stole Brooklyn's hat.

Reagan and David were wrestling and playing on the blanket. I snapped some photos of my gorgeous, eldest child. Couldn't pick, so I posted a bunch.

Sliding on Daddy's legs.

Seriously, it was the best day ever. Spring here is REALLY short, but you can't beat a rare, good spring day in south Texas. Sappy, I know, but I'll probably remember this day forever. It was just pure joy. We had our lunch on a blanket under a grove of oak trees that look like this:

So thankful for spring days with my family!

All About Sweet Brooklyn

Since my last post was all Reagan, this one is for Brook. She's not nearly as quirky (yet), but mostly smiley and adorable.

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Last Sunday after church, we went to a hibachi place with the girls. A first. Reagan loved it, but Brooklyn immediately lost it when he lit the grill on fire. She was FREAKING out. (this is one of her quirks, I guess. She is a TOTAL wimp.) The manager brought her this lollipop. Again, a first for her. I managed to get it away from her so she'd eat her lunch, but we went right back to it after she ate.

This is the squirt with her new walker! They pimped her ride!!! It is now a nice shiney gold and red, and the front wheels swivel. Her first one only went straight, now she is learning to steer AND walk at the same time. Big stuff!!
Every new thing we throw at her, she takes it and runs (literally!) with it. She can do laps around our coffee table with it now, steering like it's nothin'. Soon, we'll take off the rear brakes and she'll have to learn to stand up in it without pushing it back. But, baby steps again for now. Notice though, that this time we were practicing without using the sling! Again, a new trick.
LOVE this face.

Gotta love the big grins, too!

(serious trippage on the pants... we quickly fixed that, but it's a constant battle when she doesn't have on her boots. And if you look close enough, you can see that I guess I need to mop my floors... AGAIN. The knees of a crawler give too much away!)

She is REALLY into phones right now. And by right now, I mean the last 6 months or so. Baby rattles, cell phones, shoes, calculators, remotes... they all go to her ear like this:Btw, isn't that outfit PRECIOUS?! Thanks Julie! Wish it were still long-sleeve weather!!

These were awhile ago, hence the long sleeves. Busted out the bouncy castle, and it was B's first time to get in. She looooooooooooved it.
I love the static hair on both of them!

This would be why my girl still wears onesies. Poor thing is going to SWEAT in them come summer, but with her still crawling as her trusty mode of transportation, onesies are needed. Shirts hang everywhere, bunch up, and her scar hangs out. Which I don't care about showing it really, but some people probably don't want to see it! Anyways, look at that happy girl!

Man, she is BLESSED with those Baby Blues. Enlarge this to get full effect.

This girl LOVES to play with toys. Probably more than Reagan does. She will grab a toy and actually sit and play with it for a good while. The piggy bank is a huge fave. She can actually put the coins in by herself in the top as of the last couple of months. And of course she is so proud.

Here, miss thang has grabbed her boots to tell me she wants to walk! MASSIVE improvement from the girl who would cry everytime she saw them! If you haven't seen her boots yet (can't remember if I put pics up or not), aren't they cute and girly?!

Pretty Girl.

Again, sitting and putting the letter blocks in her train.

Look at her with that fork!!!! She has gotten quite good with it this week, and INSISTS upon eating with one. She can only do it with "stabbable" foods (hasn't quite gotten the scooping motion of a spoon yet), so if we are eating something that won't comply, we HEAR about it. But hey, I'm so proud of her! Such a big girl thing to use a fork to eat!!!

I caught this right after the "look what I did, Mom" grin on her face. You can still see her eyes smiling, though. I love how her eyes smile.

This is a rare photo of B with her mouth closed. It doesn't happen too often, but she is giving us more and more "mmmmmmm" sounds these days. Baby steps with this too, I guess. She also gave me a few "Fffffffff"s today for the first time. Even repeated it after me. Hey, it's something! Pray for all of us with this whole communication thing, please. B is SERIOUSLY frustrated that she can't talk, so she grunts and fusses constantly to get what she wants. She does sign, which is helpful, but it always starts with a fuss. Drives Reagan crazy especially! R has started spontaneously praying throughout the day, "Jesus, PLEEEEEEEASE help Brooklyn learn how to talk!" I guess that is a healthy way to deal with the frustration. But man, we are all frustrated and learning some patience. The girl knows exactly what she wants when she wants it, and wants SO BADLY to tell us. She'll get there..... but please pray about this.

Since I had the camera out, she EAGERLY points to her new hat sitting on the table, then signs "Please." Wanted her new hat on! I stuck it on her head, and she "cheeses" for the camera. Goofy girl.

LOVE my sweet Brookie Brook. She is getting so big so fast, and we couldn't be prouder of the precious girl she is!

Oh, My Sweet Reagan

Our vacation was fantastic! We had SO much fun, and the girls had the BEST time at Granddaddy and Grandmommy's! Reagan asked me if she can start asking God to get us a new house closer to their house (and Cassidee and Roselyn's!), and I say BY ALL MEANS!! I'll maybe post vaca pics later. But can I state for the record that the girls are presently, as I type this, playing in Reagan's room with the door shut. I was told politely to let them play by themselves. Seriously, warms my heart. Not that they don't want me in there, but that they love each other so much and now are starting to really play together. God has SO blessed our family!

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My precious 3-almost-4-year-old has been cracking me up lately. Well, I guess she's been doing that her whole life! These first pics are out of order because I just snapped them 5 minutes ago. I'm sitting at the computer logging into blogger, and R pulls a stool in here (this is my view from the desk) and begins to sing to me.... dressed like this: Tutu and tiara. THEN she finishes her made-up song and asks me to "tell her how she sounded in her song, just like on American Idol."

Close up shot during her song... so you can see she is covered in pink and purple stamps.

This girl has discovered that it is WAY fun to spend money when you have it. She had some money saved in her bank, then she get a pretty decent stash from Easter egg hunts. So, we counted up her money (fun math lessons for Mommy involved there!), and headed to ToysRUs... because her money burns a SERIOUS hole.

She picked out a new Larry Boy dvd, and this Princess Tiana teaset. (do you remember her Princess and Frog obsession?!?! It still exists.)

Can you see the pure joy on her face?! It was so fun. We put B down for a nap, then had ourselves a REAL tea party, with real tea and cookies. AND some praise and worship music cds for embiance. :) The whole thing is plastic, the candles are fake, the frog salt and pepper shakers are fake, the cakes are fake. Now that I've used it, I realize even more that it isn't supposed to be used as a real tea set.... Everything has stickers on it that will eventually come off when I wash the cups. Oh well. We've had LOADS of fun already with it. I love having girls. :)

I've taken almost this exact picture probably 20 times in her life, but it is just so HER and typical of her day. The tiara, the beads, the shoes, the ponies....

Something about R.... she likes to put things INSIDE of other things. And I'm not talking about organizing, actually just the opposite. I will go open the zipper pouch that is supposed to hold color-wonder markers, and inside I will find one marker, B's paci, a battery, some Goldfish, two hair clippies, and her toothbrush. That is how she rolls. It can be EXHAUSTING trying to find something that is "missing" because who knows what she might have put it in?! David has to empty out his boots everyday before work because there is always SOMETHING inside. Crazy... B is picking up this habit too.

Anyways, here is her snack bowl that had strawberries in it... now holds all the coins to B's piggy bank. Typical.

Fun play on the coffee table.... she has a Pony in her shoe and built a fence of books around it. I had to remove the Larry Boy book to snap the pic.

This was also literally just a minute ago. Brooklyn wanted to play with her ball popping thing, but all the balls were missing. I looked and looked, and found them all stuffed in R's rainboot, along with a bendy-straw and a bead necklace.

What in the world are we gonna do with this girl?! :) Seriously, she is SUCH a delight... sunshine in my everyday. I pray daily that God continues to develop the spunk He put in her (she is and is going to be the BEST big sister for B!) and keep her seeking Him. Oh, Punkie, how I love you!