Christmas Festivities

We have been to a handful of parties and events this season, many of which I don't have pictures from. But because my blogs have turned into merely posting pictures for family to see, here are a few from December.

Us at Kevin's work Christmas Party.
Lily was the hit of the party; people Kevin didn't even know came up to talk to her.
After the Christmas Eve service at our new church building, we observed a Reed tradition of Mexican food for Christmas Eve. Grandma Peggy and Papa Rick came as well as Uncle David, Aunt Bethany and crew and four of the DeLeon bunch.

The day after Christmas we headed over to Kevin's sisters house to meet up with Kevin's parents and two sisters. Below are all three families.

Lily loves her new phone from her cousins. Anything that blinks and plays music usually has her attention.

On the 29th we celebrated Chritmas with the Reed family. We tried to get a picture with the three little ones . . . This is one of my favorites. Caleb was in awe of Lily's red dress and hair bow. She wanted nothing to do with him.

Unka Jon is one of Brendan's favorite people.

Daddy and Bug

We were so blessed once again by so many friends and family who continue to spoil our little girl. Thank you all for loving on us.

200

For my 200th blog post I wanted to write something wonderful and amazing; but nothing came to mind. Life becomes more of the same and I enjoy the day in and day out. But as I looked at my calendar, I remembered that it was one year ago that we found out a baby was coming our way. You can read about it here. It was a great Christmas gift! When I began to look back at the posts from 2010, I realized I didn't post a lot of pictures of my growing belly (and face, and arms, and rear end . . .) Most of them were simply uploaded to Facebook. Below are most of the pictures we took of my changing shape.

By 10 weeks I could hardly wear my regular pants.

13 Weeks

19 Weeks in D.C.

17 Weeks and completely in maternity clothes

19 Weeks in Seattle for Easter

24 Weeks in Bakersfield for Mother's Day

28 Weeks

30 Weeks in Alaska

33 Weeks in Hubby's clothes

37 Weeks and barely fitting in maternity clothes

39 Weeks in the shirt that made me look like I was holding The Great Pumpkin

But no matter the weight gained (and lost - yippee!) it was all worth it for our little Bug.

Lily and Deacon

For the past few weeks, Lily has been hanging out with her buddy Deacon during the day. Apparently, it started out with lots of flirting. Big smiles with giggles while turning away and acting shy. But as the days went on, Lily wanted less and less to do with Deacon. According the Bethany, she began to shriek when he got too close. Deacon, being child number two, is very comfortable having other children around to look out. Lily, being an only child on the other hand, is not used to a shared space or someone else around for the majority of the time. It's good for her. Builds character.

I'm grateful Lily has a place to play everyday while Mommy goes to work.

I am even more grateful to have 2 weeks off from work to hang out with her during Christmas and the New Year!

Why I Love My Husband: Reason 286

This summer and fall, Kevin and I have taken on new leadership roles in our church. For the first time in our marriage, we are doing ministry separately. It's been a challenge, mostly because of time commitments and while they don't overlap, it means we are apart different nights of the week. Both of us have recently "fallen" into our new roles. Kevin was approached to head up the parking team when Sandals Church moved to our temporary location at the Seventh Day Adventist Church. We knew this was a small step toward what was to come when we moved to our permanent location at Palmyrita Avenue. Through this small responsibility (which took a lot of prep work) Kevin has become one of the Men's Ministry Event Coordinators. (I'm not sure if that is the official title, but it describes what he does for the men's groups.) A few weeks ago during one of Kevin's Monday night meetings, one of the leaders brought in a panel of godly women to share about their marriage, and how their husbands were the spiritual leaders of their household.

Here are some of the questions they were asked.

1. Tell us how hour husband puts Christ first and at the center of your marriage.



2. Tell us how your husband makes you feel safe and secure in your marriage.



3. What are some of the practical things that your husband does that makes you know in your heart that you are the most important person in his life?



4. Tell us how your husband handles trials and adversity.



5. How has your husbands Faith led you to explore your Faith?



6. Tell us two of the most important things that your husband does the makes your marriage what it is today.



7. Tell us about your husbands spiritual disciplines and routines.

After listening to women share the positives and negatives about their husbands, Kevin asked me to answer the questions about him. Then he asked that I share the answers with him on our road trip to Sacramento. Talk about uncomfortable. When was the last time your husband asked you to be completely honest about how he was as a husband, father, and spiritual leader? He wanted to know where he is succeeding, and where he was falling short. I was completely honest. It was hard. I was able to be encouraging but was honest with where I struggle and where I would like to see changes. It was a great time of honesty and vulnerability, on both our parts. But as a warning, do not ask questions that you aren't prepared to hear the answer to or become defensive. I think Kevin was brave to ask these questions of his wife and sit patiently to hear her answers.

One thing I would like to share with you is where I have seen the most growth in Kevin. Kevin is a wonderful husband and a great father. But as I mentioned earlier, Kevin has taken on a new role at church. One of the things Kevin has taken on naturally, without being asked, is what he and I have dubbed "a connector of people." Kevin has met more guys at our church in the past 6 months than he has in the 4 years of our marriage. He is a listener. He hears the interests of people, their hurts and pains, their joys, their excitements, and what makes them unique. Then he begins introducing people to one another. When a guy shared with Kevin about his special needs daughter, he introduced him to another father in our church with a special needs son. He introduces people to each other who are in the same line of work. When someone is looking to get involved at church, he ropes them into his parking team. I have never seen Kevin more excited about what he does at church as when he saw pictures of his parking team hanging out together outside of Sunday mornings. I'm not sure what the official name of Kevin's gift would be, but he finds joy in helping other people find their connection to Sandals church. People are drawn to Kevin. If you ever meet him, you will immediately be labeled a friend; what he calls, a buddy. Kevin loves to ask questions; something his friends (and I) have often teased him about. But the questions are genuine, and he remembers the answers. I am very proud of Kevin's willingness to be used. I'm proud to be his wife.

Turkey Day

We started our trip to Sacramento, as we started every road trip, with Sausage McMuffins with Egg. We loaded up all three of our children for the trek. Yes, we took our tiny puppies! They actually loved the car ride.
The trip which usually takes about 8 hours took closer to 10. The weather was bad and drivers weren't safe so there were tons of accidents. Close to Magic Mountain we were stopped for half an hour. We had no choice but to turn of the car and wait. Lily got a little restless but overall did wonderfully.

We had a great relaxing week but Thanksgiving was so much fun to have everyone around. Here I am with Bud. We went to his show on Wednesday night before Thanksgiving. And even though it's not typically my scene, we had a nice time and it was a lot of fun to see Dogfood play. They put on a pretty good show.

My Grandma (Lily's G.G.)

Grammie got Lily a turkey book for Thanksgiving. She already likes books.

Her Thanksgiving jammies.

Lily and her Daddy

We had a really nice time. It was pretty cool and Pepa made a fire every night. We watched Toy Story 3 and I cried. We made Chex Mix and all kinds of goodies all week. Lily had a wonderful first Thanksgiving.

Rockin' and Rollin'

Lily has finally rolled over! She did it three times in a row and was able to catch one of them on film. But since last Friday, she hasn't done it again. But now we know she can do it. The second video she is jabbering to Cow; one of her favorite toys.

Three Months

Lily turned three months on Thanksgiving but we didn't get our little pictures taken until this last week. And then when we got into our onesie and got the sticker on, we got just a couple of pictures, before she spit up on the sticker, pooped, and the then got fussy.

Here is the practice run picture in the crib, and one posed shot. Oh well, better luck at Christmas.

In other news, each stage becomes more enjoyable than the previous. She is holding her head up a lot more. She really enjoys the Bumbo, bright colors on the television, and any toy that makes noise. Aunt Rachel gave her a couple of jingle toys for the car seat, but we have been attaching them tons on places for her to bat at; she loves them. She is much better at tummy time, especially since we got her a mirror; Kevin calls her vain because she stares at herself. I'm not sure she knows that she is the baby staring back, but she lifts her head up and smiles at herself. Tummy-time isn't her favorite, she would prefer to sit up. She makes a lot of noise with gurgles, coos, and shrieks. She laughs some . . . for other people. . . apparently, I'm not very funny. She has found her hands, but doesn't really know how they work. She really just stares at her fists, or sucks on them and eventually gags herself.

I went back to work full-time, and it sucks. I hate not being there with her. I am fortunate enough to see her on my lunch break but I really miss being home everyday. It's harder emotionally than I thought it would be. The time I have with her is very limited in the evening, and almost non-existent in the morning. I am grateful she is in good hands, but it makes me cherish the weekends that much more.

Buddies

Lily started daycare full-time this week. Monday was rough. Even though I love where she is at, it isn't with me. But she seems to enjoy herself. Below she is hanging out with her buddy (my adopted nephew) Deacon, born only seven weeks before Lily; even though he is twice as big as she is. Apparently they flirt all day long; taking long glances and smiling at each other. Here they are holding hands. As Kevin would say; Precious.

First Laugh

It took three whole months but we finally got our first laugh on Friday. She has been smiling for weeks, but apparently nothing has been funny before now. Below is the video of Lily playing with Daddy.

One Week Down

I made it. First week back to work is under my belt. It was nice to work only 30 hours. Unfortunately, I didn't really get a schedule down with Lily until Thursday. She can't really decide if she wants to go 3 or 4 hours between feedings. And just like her mama, she is not a cuddler. This means that she will not eat unless she is hungry. On Wednesday when I came home for lunch, she wasn't ready to eat, so she fought me. Grammie had to do another bottle that day.

She is ready to stretch between feedings, but not ready to drop a feeding. Thus, I have added back in an early morning feeding; 4:00 am to be precise. And then again at 7:00. It's fine though. Kevin gets up around the same time so I get to see him before he leaves. One day I may get up and go for a walk instead of going back to sleep for an hour and a half. But since the weather is getting colder, it's pretty unlikely. She will eventually drop a feeding and we'll be okay.



This week I am off of work so we'll be playing with the schedule a little more to find what works for both of us. My main goal is to be able to feed her on my lunch; it's one less bottle and pumping for the parties involved.

I personally did okay at work. Currently the days goes by pretty quickly. I don't feel the need yet to be around other "grown-ups"; I feel like I get enough adult interaction at the moment. I would prefer to be at home with Lily. But I didn't miss her as much as I thought I would, probably because I knew she was in excellent hands. On top of that I had some vacation time this week that I was looking forward to. We'll have to see how quickly the days and weeks go when I return from Thanksgiving.

Back to the Grind

I went back to work today; sort of.

I was up at 5:45 am to feed her; a full 45 minutes before her typical eating time. But there was no putting her off this morning. She wakes up HUNGRY! So she ate and we played before work. I ate and she cooed. Then she talked to the ceiling fan while I finished getting ready. I put her back down for a nap just before I left for work. I packed my snacks, packed my pump, and grabbed a few snap shots to put in my office and I was out to door at 7:30.

My mom has come down from Sacramento this week to watch Lily for my first week back. Having Mom here is helping make the transition a little smoother. Additionally, I have been allowed to leave at 3:00 pm this week. This meant I was able to go home to feed her on my lunch and was home as she was woke up from her afternoon nap. She did great with her schedule and was an angel for Grandma.

Lily will be twelve weeks on Wednesday and I am grateful that I was able to take this much time. I have been able to learn some of her cues and work on getting her on a schedule that fit my work schedule. We spent time at home. We spent time with friends. We went shopping. We went for walks. We even took a trip up to see Grandma and Grandpa and the whole Sacramento gang.

It has been a glorious time off. But alas, duty calls, and I returned to my dark little office under the stairs with the 3 by 3 window that sits so high I can only see the sky. At least it was blue today. I can't really complain. The privacy of my office makes it convenient to pump. On top of that, I have all of next week off. And Christmas is just around the corner!

Bumbo

Lily is holding her head up more and more. Today as she sat in my bent knees, she kept leaning forward to sit up. We went downstairs and busted out the Bumbo. She loved it!

Why I Love My Husband: Reason #143

It has been a crazy 24 hours. Last night before we went to sleep I told Kevin my stomach hurt. At midnight I woke up with a crazy fever knowing that I was going to throw up. And I did; a couple of times. I ran a fever most of the night. At 3:00 am, Kevin sent an email to his work letting them know that he wouldn't make it in to work. He stayed home to take care of me and Bug today. He brought her to me when she needed to eat. I'm so weak, I couldn't hardly life her. Kevin helped me prop her up and even gave her the afternoon feeding so I could sleep. He played with her and put her back down for a nap. He went and got me Gatorade and crackers. He has been an all around amazing husband and dad. I never would have made it today without him. I've been in bed all day and Kevin has taken care of everything.

I love seeing Kevin with Lily. He loves her so much, it makes me love him that much more.

First Halloween

On Friday, October 29, Lily wore her Halloween outfit to have lunch with Aunt Rachel at CBU. It's not real something she can wear until she grows out of it, so I wanted to make sure she got at least two uses. She, of course, wore it to church in the 31st as well.

Lily loves her play mat. She is learning that her actions have a reaction. She loves to kick and the noises that the toys make. She can't grab the toys yet but she bats like crazy at them. It's fun to see how quickly she changes.

Sunday night was Trunk or Treat at church, and although Lily was a little too young, I was excited to see Brendan get candy.

Brendan was a little Zoo Keeper with his monkey, lion, and bear.

It was close to Lily's nap time, so we ended up taking most of the pictures with the pacifier. Caleb was nice enough to hold Lily's hand to make her feel better.

Kevin worked the parking for the nearly 5,000 people that came to Trunk or Treat but found us for a quick photo.

Two Months

Lily is two months! She is changing daily and we are having a blast. She (or Mommy) has regulated her schedule a little more the past couple of weeks. She is doing better with her naps now that I realized she was under fed and over stimulated. She was spitting up so much the first month I thought she was overeating, but when I made sure she got a full feeding she napped longer. Additionally, I found that if we wind down from play time before a nap, she goes down better. I lay her down for her naps and for the most part she goes right to sleep. I also found I have to put her upstairs for a nap. I was trying to keep her down her and force her to get used to sleeping through noise. But found she naps deeper and longer upstairs. I put the fan and some music on and I can do stuff in her room without her waking up, but this way she isn't startled by the dishes, or the washer, or the puppies. Unfortunately, I started a terrible habit, and she won't fall asleep without her pacifier. But it was the pacifier or her thumb. Luckily, we have moved to just using the pacifier for naps. She doesn't need it during the day or when she goes to sleep at night.

Speaking of nighttime, Lily has slept through the night for all but one night this week. She goes down about 9:00 and sleeps until 5:00 or 6:00, depending on when Kevin gets up in the morning. It has been wonderful! With all the middle of the night pregnancy peeing, it has been almost a year since I have slept through the night. It may be a phase, and may change when she hits a growth spurt, but I am soaking it up.

She had her two month appointment on Tuesday, which means she received three shots. My poor baby! I don't think I have seen real tears on her before then. But Mommy didn't cry. She ran a fever on Tuesday and slept a lot, so when Wednesday rolled around, I figured we were in the clear. By 3:00, she was acting like she was hungry, sucking on her fist, my arm, my neck, but refused to eat. I let her nap and she did the same thing at 6:00 and again at 9:00 that evening. By this time I was really worried. She was still running a slight fever, but hates the baby medicine. Why is infant medicine cherry flavored? Babies have not had anything but milk for close to six months so why would you flavor it? She slept off the fever with almost a full night of sleep (until 4:00 am) and then picked up on Thursday like nothing had happened.

Lily is 23.5 inches long and now weighs 11 pounds, 5 ounces; 85th percentile for height but only 50th percentile for weight. She hasn't gained a ton of weight even though she was good size when she was born. But she continues to grow and doc said she is healthy. Her chubby cheeks make her look bigger than she is, but her legs are pretty skinny. She is finally starting to get some rolls on her thighs. She is really long in the torso. Most sleepers are really tight in the snaps, but have extra length in the legs. Clothes are often falling off the shoulders or have extra room around the middle even when I can barely snap them closed.

She smiles a lot more and coos a lot! It's in the back of her throat and she sounds a little like Chewbacca. It makes me laugh and she coos even more. She is kicking more determinedly now. She like that the play mat charms jingle when she kicks them. She tracks really well and watches me walk around the kitchen. We usually hang out in the kitchen in the morning doing dishes from the night before, making breakfast, and doing some baking. Tummy time still isn't her favorite but she tolerates it and she is getting a really strong neck. It's all happening so fast!

Here are a few pictures from this week. Mommy waited a little too close to nap time to take pictures so we didn't get a real smile.

School Is In Session

This past Saturday my sister threw her best friend a baby shower and I got to help out. As I have mentioned before we love to throw parties. Rachel is wonderfully creative and we often feed off of each other with ideas. This shower was a Back to School theme. Tawni is a fourth grade elementary school teacher and loved the idea.

Below are some of the photos from the day.

Rachel made the invitations to look like a chalkboard and the inside warned guests not to be tardy.

I made the flower vases using water bottles, crayons, and a little hot glue.

The schedule was displayed for the guests to see when they arrived.

We had carrots and dip for snack time.

Rachel put alphabet paper and buses on mini water bottles.

We served lunch in paper bags with each guests name on it; peanut butter and jelly, go-gurt, chips, apple slices, and a little can of coke.

Tawni opened gifts during Show and Tell. This is Tawni's second boy, so I wrote a little poem for the inviation:


As Tawni prepares to raise two boys,
She does not need many clothes or toys.
For items she needs just take a look,
But when in doubt just bring a book!
Animals that talk and history too,
Any storybook with pictures will do.
Let's fill up the shelf with books they need,
To teach the little ones to love to read!



Rachel did a great job with dessert. We put out a platter of cookies and she served milk in mini milk bottles with striped straws.

Below is by far my favorite thing at the shower. Rachel made alphabet flash cards to display. Now granted, she will eventually use them in Caleb's bedroom, but they were a great addition to the party. She once again used her trusty Cricket machine. The Cricket may be nifty and handy, but it sure doesn't make things quicker. I know this project took quite a while.

I loved them so much, I have asked Rachel to make Lily a set for Christmas.


To thank each guest for coming, we sent each one home with a homemade carmel apple.


Congratulations Tawni - we can't wait to hear the name you have chosen for your second little blessing.