My return to Blogland...

I'm back!!!  I know you all missed me...haha =)  

Seriously... getting back into the swing of things after vacation with a newborn is proving to be a much slower process than I anticipated... but we're getting there!  Almost through washing my piles and piles of laundry... now I just have to start folding... ugh.  But... We had a WONDERFUL time in Maui!!!  I can't even begin to write about our entire trip tonight - that will be a post for another day...  But what a blessing it was to be pampered for a week!  We came back refreshed, excited, and so thankful for the sweet baby that our family has been blessed with.  I promise I'll post more about the trip later, but for now...here's a few pics from our evenings...

Ben and I at the Hawaiian Luau/Theme party... Fleetwood Mac was hired as the band!  Lots of fun music and dancing!

We were very excited about this trip because we got to go with a group of dear, dear friends that we lived with up in Minneapolis for a year.  We absolutely loved spending the week with all of them and catching up...can't wait until next year!  Here's a pic of all of us at dinner on the beach the first night we arrived...

And...another pic of Ben and I our last night at dinner...  

As I said...there are more pics to come later (some of them are already posted on Facebook)... But now on to the REAL REASON that everyone reads our blog... our sweet Michael Reid!!!

Reid will be 2 months old this week!!!  How do you even begin to resist this huge smile???

He's growing and changing so quickly these days - I feel like I've missed something every time I go to sleep at night!  I'm very thankful that Reid is getting on somewhat of a schedule now... He eats at 6:30am, 9:30am, 12:30pm, 3:30pm, then 6:30pm.  We put him down to bed about 8pm, and then he usually only wakes up at 1:30am to eat then goes right back to sleep until morning.  What an angel!  His pattern is typically eat, play for about an hour, then nap.  During his eating and play time, he is so happy... he laughs, talks, and loves to be held!

He's also pushing up on his elbows during tummy time, holding his head up really well, and has started copying different faces we make.  Here's a picture of him with Uncle Craig last week...Aunt Neely captured the perfect picture of how he studies your face and copies what you're doing...

What a smart little man!!! =)  This Friday, we go to the dreaded 2 month well-check where Reid will have to get his first big round of shots...no fun.  I'm not looking forward to it at all, but hopeful that it won't be as bad as I'm anticipating.  

And...on the adoption front... we had our first post-placement visit with Kris Miller (executive director @ Little Flower Adoption Agency).  I didn't know quite what to expect, but everything went really well!  It was so much fun to introduce Reid to Kris - she helped us tremendously in getting started with our adoption process as well as conducted our home study, so we had a great time today.  This is the first of several post-placement visits that will take place with her over the next 6 months.  Each month we are also sending in update reports, doctors notes, pictures, etc to the Adoption Alliance who will be finalizing our adoption this August in San Antonio (6 month finalization period in the state of Texas).  We are counting down the days!!!

And, finally, here's a little video of what I get to wake up to every morning.  As usual, Reid is pretty camera shy and most of the smiles/laughing stop when it comes out... but we captured a little sample of our happy baby boy!

Sleep may be in our future...

We're not holding our breath here, but... Reid finished his last bottle at 11pm last night... then didn't wake up to eat again until 6:40am this morning!  Holy Cow!!!  Mom and Dad were ecstatic to say the very least - we feel like completely new people today!  We'll see how tonight goes...=) In less than 24 hours we're headed to Maui...Aloha!!!

Six Weeks Old!

Our baby boy is SIX WEEKS OLD today...WOW!!!  I know I say this all of the time...but we are just amazed at how quickly the time flies!  Reid is becoming more and more of a little man every day - we love him so much!  His best friend is still "Buddy" (the blue elephant)...but he's expanded his circle of friends to the mobile of animals above his bed.  Apparently, they are about the funniest things ever. =)  And, Reid is absolutely fascinated with his activity gym...he puts in a good workout about three to four times per day...he just kicks and kicks, and talks, and plays...he really works up a sweat!

We have also discovered that we have a tummy baby...this is FAVORITE way to sleep:

Now, before anyone goes turning me in to CPS... I KNOW that babies are only supposed to sleep on their backs these days.  Rest assured, we only let him sleep on his tummy when we are in the room with him and can keep an eye on him (or when Mom and Dad need him to sleep just ONE MORE hour in the mornings!).  But it is so cute!!!  He wants his little legs tucked up under him and his butt straight up in the air.

Here's a better angle of him from behind...you can really see how he tucks his legs and sticks up his bottom =)  (Sorry...all of these pics were taken with my cell phone...not great quality.)

And here's a picture of our morning routine while Mom is putting her make-up on...

Fat Jack used to lay where Reid currently sits, and was none too happy to give up his spot!  But...he's coming around and has decided to now park himself either right next to Ben's sink (as pictured) or directly IN Ben's sink. 

Our sweet boy is also smiling so much these days!  He even belly-laughs in his sleep, but hasn't figured out how to laugh out loud when he is awake yet.  Here's a picture of him waking up from a nap.  As soon as he sees me I get the best smile =)

And it's just HILARIOUS if I stick my tongue out...

Ben and I just can't believe how much Reid is growing and changing every day!  It's so much fun to watch and exciting to see what new things he learns every day.  We love you so much, little man!!!

This next week I may be MIA in blogland...  We have been (frantically) preparing for our vacation this week.  We leave for Maui THIS Saturday and won't be back until the next Friday.  We are so excited to be there...just dreading all of the packing and laundry that must happen by Friday evening.  But...we are going with some dear, dear friends that we lived with up in Minneapolis - it's been well over a year since we've all seen each other and we couldn't be more thrilled!!!  So...to the Bowlin fam, the Sannes fam, the Spettle fam, and Kyle... we will see you in just a few short days!!!  To everyone else...Aloha until next week!

Another week of FIRSTS...

This has been another week of "firsts" for our small family...

Reid attended his FIRST community group at our church...

As you can see...he learned a lot...haha! =)

Now...we had to swallow hard for this next picture... It was Reid's first time to wear UT parafanalia...gulp.  

Before our Baylor friends crucify us...a little background.  My parents plus one of Ben's younger brothers went to UT, so our little man has received quite the orange wardrobe.  And...last night was our FIRST time to leave the little guy while we went out to dinner for Ben's birthday.  Since my parents (Doc & KK) were keeping the little dude, we thought we would be kind enough to dress him in something they would like.   If it's any consolation... Ben pointed out that it looks like Reid is doing a Sic Em' Bears in the above picture.  That's our boy!! =)

As I just said, it was our FIRST time to leave our sweet baby.  It was definitely much harder on us (especially Mom) than it was on Reid...  there were definitely a few tears shed.  But, of course, he did great and didn't even know we were gone.  Thank you so much Doc & KK!  We really enjoyed our fabulous dinner at Bob's Steak & Chop House...YUMM!!

A new pic of our little family...one day Reid will learn to look at the camera...he's still pretty stinkin' cute, though!!! =)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEN!!!!

For those of you that don't know...TODAY IS BEN'S 31st BIRTHDAY!!!  Make sure to harass the old man when you have a chance! =)  Here's a fun picture I found of Ben from 2003... think I've given him a lot of gray hairs???  Ha!!!

In all seriousness... Ben is absolutely incredible, and I am blessed every day to call him my husband!  He loves his family (and mine) so very much...

He's THE BEST daddy in the world...

...And I love that I am his wife.  He is so loving, patient, kind, and generous to me - I am blessed by his friendship and companionship - there's no one else that I could imagine walking beside for the rest of my life. 

I love you so much, Ben, and can't wait to spend the next 50 birthdays with you!

Ben's 31st (SURPRISE) Birthday

My sweet husband is not a huge birthday person...prefers to keep things simple and quiet.  But, unfortunately for him... he's married to the BIRTHDAY QUEEN!!!  I LOVE having an excuse to throw a party =)

Last night, I planned on having our families over for a nice dinner to celebrate Ben's birthday (which is actually March 10th).  We had a truly wonderful time and enjoyed the early part of the evening!  Then, I may (or may not have), invited a few of Ben's buddies over to surprise him and celebrate with us with cake and drinks... we had a full house!  Sorry I didn't get better pictures =)

And OF COURSE there was a Dallas Cowboys cake from Opulent cakes...yum!!!

Here's a pic of the hubs and I right before people started showing up at the door...

A picture of our little family of three... (Reid WAS looking at the camera...but it looks like we just missed it in this shot...oh well!)

Awww...I love these two with all my heart!!!

Ben's "real" birthday is actually this Tuesday, March 10th.  My mom is taking our little dude for the evening and Ben and I have reservations at Bob's Steak and Chop House...CANNOT WAIT...YUM!!!!  Happy early birthday to the greatest husband and daddy in the world!!!  

Random pics from my phone this week =)

Oh, how we love this little guy!!!

Reid Is 1 Month Old Today!

We can't believe that Reid is 1 month old today!  Time seems to go by so very fast...

I realized I hadn't put any videos of the little man up on our blog...so here are a few =)  The first video with the activity gym is from this morning.  As I was getting ready in the bathroom, Reid was squealing and talking to the flashing star on his activity gym - it was so cute!  Ben and I were both cracking up!  But, of course, by the time the video camera came out...he was suddenly camera shy.  Oh well!  I still think it's a cute little video of him.  

The second video was also taken today, and one that we have been talking about posting for a long time.  It's a video of Reid eating...he makes the craziest noises as he's gulping down the bottle - he's done it from day 1 and it's so funny to us!  The other reason we posted this video, is it also captures the only time that our sweet baby ever cries... when he's burbing.  He HATES having the bottle taken away to be burped...and he lets us know it. =)  But, no worries...he calms right down as soon as he gets the bottle back... no baby torture going on here. =)

A few milestones for our little one month old:

1) Reid is now eating 5 full ounces at every feeding...the boy LIKES TO EAT!  I packed away all of his little bottles last weekend...he's now drinking out of the big boy 8 ounce bottles.  Made his Mom a little sad...

2) He is smiling all of the time at us - absolutely makes my day!

3) He's really starting to "talk"... we can have little conversations with him, and he definitely tells his "friends" (aka...the star...and buddy, of course) all about his day.  

4) I have started back to work.  I was dreading this last week, but I have to say that it is going much better than I anticipated.  Plus, I really do LOVE my job.  I'm very fortunate to work from home, so I don't have to miss out on any time with the little guy.  And, Reid has the two best grandmothers IN THE WORLD... who come over to help so that I have some uninterrupted work time.  Thank you both so much!!!

That Million Dollar Smile!!!

I FINALLY caught Reid's sweet smile on camera (even though it's only a half smile!)...

Ahhh...it just melts our hearts every time we see it...can't contain all of the love and joy this little man brings!!!

We had a great but busy weekend!  Friday night and Saturday were spent working hard on Reid's nursery and bathroom - it's looking so cute...I love it!!!  We still have a few more things we're waiting on before it's finished... once we get those in, then I'll be sure to post lots of pictures. =)

We also got to spend a lot of time with our families...  Uncle Jeff came into town this weekend and it was so much fun seeing him on Saturday night!!!  (Sorry about the picture...it's a few weeks old...)

And then (soon-to-be) Uncle Craig was in town as well and finally got to meet the little dude!  

What you can't see in that picture above, is that Craig was actually being pooped on at that exact moment... what a way to initiate him, Reid!  Ha!!

And I love pictures of our sweet, sleeping baby...can't get enough of them...

I also have to say that I have the greatest husband and Reid has the greatest father in the world!!  I woke up Saturday, and Ben told me to take the morning/afternoon to go do whatever I wanted to do.  The two men were going to just chill and have a Daddy & Reid day =)  It felt so great getting out and about!  (Reid is still too young to take many places in the height of flu season).  I went to the mall, ran errands, Hobby Lobby, and even got to go to Saturday evening church which I have greatly missed!  I have to say, though...that I missed that little boy so much just for those few short hours... how he has blessed our lives!