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.